On the Run
by Lola Estheim
Summary: Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. He soon realizes that it's not all it's cracked up to be. When his world starts falling apart the new girl, Liana Blake, is there to pick the pieces up. The more he tries to push her away, the more he realizes that he can't stay away. Neither can deny that they're falling for each other. Will he escape the Dark Lord? Will he have to flee the country?
1. The New Girl

I didn't want to be a Death Eater anymore. I didn't want this. I didn't want to kill anyone, especially not Dumbledore. But I had to. I had to do it or Voldemort was going to kill me. There was no way out... There was no turning back now. I had the Dark Mark… I was one of _them_.

"Draco?" Pansy called, breaking my concentration. Unfortunately, I was back in reality. The reality in which I was a Death Eater and I had to carry out this horrid deed. "Are you alright?" She rubbed her hands on my arm, but I pushed her away.

"Stop it," I told her and grabbed my trunk from the overhead compartment, putting it by the door. Pansy and I were currently dating, but I was growing sick of her. She was constantly all over me. I had no idea why we were together, honestly. I wanted to break it off, and soon.

The train pulled into the Hogsmeade Station and I rushed out as soon as I could. I had to get away from them all, so that I could think. How in the world was I going to carry out this deed? Everyone would hate me for sure.

I got into a carriage with a bunch of sixth years I didn't know. There was a girl sitting across from me that I'd never seen before. She had striking green eyes and deep brown hair. Our eyes met and she quickly looked away. She immediately got into deep conversation with a Slytherin, Isabella Devine, to her left. My mind drifted off into other thoughts as I stared into the dreary night sky.

* * *

"What's the matter with you?" Pansy asked me later that night at the back to school feast. She looked hurt. "Why were you acting that way on the train?"

The girl I'd seen in the carriages was sitting underneath the sorting hat. Her name was Liana Blake. She was new this year. No wonder I hadn't seen her before. She looked rather nervous. Then the sorting hat bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!"

"No reason. I just want to be alone," I said rather harshly. Dumbledore made the usual few announcements, then food appeared on the tables.

"Fine! Have it your way," she said and got up to sit somewhere else. Blaise sat across from me, eyeing me suspiciously.

"What are you looking at?" I demanded. Blaise shrugged and scooped some potatoes on his plate. I picked at the roast beef on my plate until Dumbledore dismissed us from the Great Hall to go to bed. I was relieved and I was exhausted.

To my dismay, I ran into Pansy on my way to my dorm. She made it a point to bump into me as I walked by, making me stumble backward. Lucky for her, I wasn't in the mood to put up a fight. As people chattered excitedly about the start of the new school year, I went upstairs to go to bed. But I was in no condition to sleep.

* * *

I stared at my schedule during breakfast the next morning and sighed. I'd hardly gotten any sleep. At least I had a free period this morning, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Professor Snape. _Great_, I thought. _A reminder of what was supposed to come_.

I decided to spend my free period by the lake. A group of giggly girls stared at me as they walked by. I assumed they were going to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. It was a relief to be out of that class. It was a danger to us all, with those terrible creatures Hagrid was always bringing in.

"I hear he's the Slytherin _Prince_," I heard the blonde in the group say loud enough for me to hear. That made me smile. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to smile. I found myself frowning most of the time, especially when I was alone. I couldn't even bring myself to smile around Pansy. Not unless she was moaning my name, of course.

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy," said Professor Snape. I looked up into his dark eyes. I'd been daydreaming again. "Staring off into space, are we? Turn to page 118." I snapped out of it and turned to the correct page. I saw Harry smirking, along with Ron from the corner of my eye. I wasn't going to turn around and entertain them with one of my cold glares. I wasn't in the mood.

At the end of class, Pansy was in the hallway waiting for me. I looked at her and walked in the opposite direction. She grabbed my arm in desperation. "Draco, wait… We need to talk."

I let out a small chuckle and said, "You're right… We do need to talk."

"Well, what's the matter with you? You've been acting really weird lately. And you've been avoiding me."

"Did you ever think that maybe there was a reason that I was avoiding you?"

"What?"

"I don't want to be with you. I don't even know why we were together in the first place… I've got to go. It's over."

"You can't do this!"

"I just did," I said coldly, walking away to the Great Hall for lunch. On my way, Professor Snape called out to me. "Mr. Malfoy, come here a moment."

He ushered me back into his classroom, shutting the door behind him. "Have you begun mending the cabinet?"

"The what?"

"The Vanishing Cabinet," he said rather impatiently. He took a step closer to me. "It is essential that the Cabinet be mended, as it creates the passageway necessary for your task."

"I know what I'm doing."

"Just remember that time is of the essence," he said and walked off, leaving me in the classroom by myself. Truth was, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't want to do this at all.

I took off, not toward the Great Hall, but toward the abandoned lavatory on the second floor. Nobody ever goes in there, so I figured that I may as well get some peace and quiet while I could. Besides, I wasn't very hungry. I walked past groups of people, laughing and giggling. It made me sick.

I got to the bathroom, where I was greeted by Moaning Myrtle. "Hello Draco," she said and dove into one of the toilets. I strode over to the mirror and looked at myself. I was paler than ever and I had bags under my eyes from my lack of sleep. I looked a mess, I had to admit. I was suddenly overwhelmed with my thoughts and tears started falling down my face, faster and faster. I decided to sit in one of the bathrooms stalls for a while.

This was the only place I could be alone. I had friends of course, but I couldn't talk to them about this sort of thing. There was no one I could talk to. I couldn't possibly tell my father. He'd be ashamed of me. If I told my mother she'd probably show sympathy, but there wasn't anything _she_ could do. She wasn't even a Death Eater.

Suddenly, I heard the door creak open. I heard someone else crying too. I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. The tears kept falling down my face. The person who had come in crying had stopped. I heard footsteps walking around. "Is someone there?" the voice called. I heard the footsteps walking toward the stall I was in.

I really didn't want to be caught in this bathroom crying. "Are you okay in there?" the voice asked. The door slowly opened to reveal a girl around my age. Her face was red from crying, but she was the girl with the deep chocolate hair and piercing green eyes. The girl was Liana Blake.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," she explained.

"Why do you care?" I asked between sobs.

"Well you're Draco Malfoy, you're in a girls' lavatory, and it seems unlike you, according to rumors."

"How do you know who I am? We've never spoken before."

"Everyone knows who you are, Draco. My name is Liana Blake. I'm new this year."

"I know. So why were you crying?" I asked. I was curious, but I didn't expect her to actually tell me.

"Because... Because I've-I've just had a bad breakup with Seamus Finnigan from Gryffindor," she told me, sniffling and wiping away a tear. I stepped out of the bathroom stall.

"I'm sorry," I said, also wiping my tears. _She probably thinks I'm an idiot_, I thought.

"The Draco I've heard about would never say sorry," she said.

"What have you heard?" I asked, curious.

"Well I've heard that you can be really cruel, you call people foul names, you tend to snap at people, and that you and Pansy Parkinson are currently dating," she told me.

"We _were_ dating," I said quickly. Then I got a little defensive. "I've been through a lot, okay?"

"So is that why you've been crying?" she asked me.

"You wouldn't understand," I told her and started walking away.

"Wait, I think I would understand. I'm a good listener," she said softly, touching my arm. Her touch sent shivers up my spine, but I kept that bit to myself. "I'm sure that whatever it is you're going through can be fixed somehow."

"What I'm going through can't possibly be _fixed_! I'm a Death Eater! Do you see this?" I snapped at her, showing her my dark mark. Her expression didn't change. "I've been assigned to kill Dumbledore by Lord Voldemort! And if I fail, I will _die_! Do you have any idea what any of this feels like?! Do you think that this can be _fixed_ now?!"

_What have I done?_ I asked myself. I'd just told a complete stranger my deepest, darkest secret. Surely, she'd tell everyone. Then everything would be ruined… Then I'd definitely be dead meat. I just so angry… I started talking and then I just couldn't stop. I'd said too much and I immediately rushed out of the bathroom, with Liana calling after me.


	2. Getting Acquainted

I didn't see Liana for a few days…

One morning during breakfast, she tapped me from behind. "Could I talk to you for a moment?" she asked me. I saw Pansy look at her with disgust and Blaise had a nonchalant look plastered across his face.

"There's nothing to talk about," I said, taking a small sip of pumpkin juice.

"Draco, please," she said with a bit of urgency in her voice. I hesitated, but I got up and followed her anyway. She led me into an empty corridor. "I didn't tell anyone… About you being a Death Eater and all," she told me.

"Well thanks for keeping it between us. Now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to get back," I said. She stared at me for a few seconds and shook her head.

"You're unbelievable. Bella's right… You may be attractive, but you're an ass," she said, turning to go back to breakfast.

"I'm attractive, am I?" I called after her. But it was too late. I smiled at the fact that she'd called me attractive. As I walked back to breakfast myself, I realized that Liana was serious. I _was_ an ass. I made a few enemies because of that. I blamed my father for raising me to believe that just because I was a pure blood, that I was better than everyone else. And I blamed myself for continuing to grow up thinking that I was. The truth was that I wasn't. I was no better than anyone else.

Over the next few weeks or so, Liana wouldn't look me in the eyes. I wanted to apologize to her badly, but I was sure that I'd mess everything up and worsen the situation.

One Saturday afternoon, everyone went to Hogsmeade. I wanted to go, but I couldn't will myself to go. I decided to stay, while everyone else had a bloody good time.

I decided to take a walk by the lake to clear my head a bit. I wished this could all end here. My life was pretty much worthless now. I had no bright future… My future was to kill and torture innocent people. I didn't want that at all… I wasn't quite sure what I wanted exactly, but definitely not this.

I saw a girl sitting in the grass as I neared the water. It was Liana. I felt horrible about how I'd treated her, so I walked toward her. She turned to see who was walking and turned back toward the water. She was crying again. I sat down next to her. We didn't say anything to each other. We sat quietly for a few moments. "I'm sorry," I blurted out.

"Well, well, well… _Draco_ _Malfoy_ is sorry," she said, still sniffling. "What is it you want?"

"I wanted to apologize," I explained. "And I wanted to tell you that you were right… I _am_ an ass."

"An attractive ass… that's full of it," she said and gave a faint smile.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I suppose…"

"Can we start over? As friends?" I asked her. She nodded. "You're the first person to be nice to me in ages, you know?"

"What about Pansy? She's not nice to you?" Liana asked me, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess she was sort of all right, but she's not exactly my type of girl," I confessed. "So why is it that you haven't gone running yet? I'm a Death Eater…"

"I don't care about any of that... I don't judge."

"But I could _kill_ you right now! I'm dangerous."

"But you _won't_ kill me."

"You're right. I won't."  
"I believe that everyone has a good side. You have one too… You just have to find it."

Three weeks went by. I spent less time with Pansy (who occasionally tried to get back together with me), Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. I spent most of my time with Liana. I learned that she and Seamus had broken up because he'd cheated on her over the summer. She was friends with Loony Lovegood and Ernie Macmillan as well as her cousin, Isabella Devine. Her mother was a witch and she died when Liana was young.

Her father was a Muggle, but he was an alcoholic, so she was staying with her aunt, Isabella's mother. That made her a half blood, which my parents would look down upon. But I didn't care about blood purity. Not anymore, at least.

Liana and I were doing homework in the library one day. I was helping her with our Potions assignment. I'd agreed to tutor her since she was terrible at the subject. She was nearly as bad as Longbottom. But then again, nobody was as bad as Longbottom…

Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Ginny Weasley were sitting at a table across from ours. Seamus was glaring at me from across the room. It didn't faze me; it was just irritating to look up only to find Seamus giving me dirty looks. I excused myself from the table and went into the corridor. Seamus joined me a couple seconds later.

"What do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" Seamus demanded.

"I was doing homework with Liana," I told him. "Nothing's going on between us… We're _just_ friends."

"Rubbish! Something's not right with you… You're up to something, aren't you? You'd better not hurt her," he warned.

"Like you haven't already?" I blurted out suddenly.

"Look, that's none of your business, you lousy git!" yelled Seamus. He looked at me for a few seconds before storming back into the library. Then I heard Liana arguing with him at the library's entrance.

"What's it to you? Who I'm seeing is none of your business. And I'd appreciate it very much if you stayed out of mine." A pissed looking Liana rushed into the hallway, pausing when she saw me.

"Did you hear any of that?" she asked, embarrassed. Her cheeks turned slightly pink. I thought it was adorable.

"I heard enough," he said. We began walking toward the Great Hall. Dinner was soon. "So who _are_ you seeing?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious… I thought you would've picked that up by now."

"Well if you simply must know… I'm not seeing anyone, actually."

"That's a shame."

"How so?"

"A pretty girl like you… I'm just surprised."

"Hey… Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? It's unhealthy to mope about the castle on a beautiful October evening."

"Sure… It's a date."

"It is not!"

"Fine… It's _not_ a date," I said and winked at her before heading to the Slytherin table. She exchanged a quick word with Isabella and then went to her table with the Ravenclaws. She smiled at me from across the room. My cheeks got a ticklish feeling. Did I just blush? Did I like Liana? I mean, I flirted with her from time to time, but I wasn't sure of my feelings about her.

"Draco?" Blaise said, snapping me out of it.

"Huh?" I said absentmindedly.

"I _said_ are you going to the Quidditch match on Sunday?"

"I might… Might as well torment Weasley while I'm at it." Blaise chuckled and returned to his dinner.

I waited for Liana in the courtyard at about two o'clock on Saturday. I saw her coming toward me with Isabella. _Oh, Merlin! Please tell me she's not coming along_, I thought desperately. Thankfully, she kissed Isabella on the cheek, and then Isabella disappeared into a crowd of Slytherins.

"Are you all right?" she asked, noticing my pained expression.

I smiled and said softly, "Never better." We walked side by side to Hogsmeade. I kind of wished she'd reach out to hold my hand… or my arm, at least. She made me so nervous. When I was with her, it was like my whole persona changed. I was no longer Draco Malfoy, the Death Eater. I was Draco Malfoy, who hated to admit that he was falling for Liana Blake.

She insisted that we go to The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. I didn't mind as long as I was spending time with her. She grabbed a table while I ordered two butterbeers. As I walked back to Liana, I crossed paths with the infamous "Boy Who Lived."

"Malfoy," he said.

"Potter," I replied. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then moved on.

"I take it that you and Harry don't get along," Liana said awkwardly.

"We've been enemies since we arrived at Hogwarts."

"Why?"

I couldn't answer that honestly. Sure, Harry had reasons to hate me. But I didn't even know why we were enemies. Liana took the hint and I changed the subject. "How do you like it here? At Hogwarts, I mean."

"I like it. It's much better than Beauxbatons. I used to live in France with my grandparents for a while. But then my aunt suggested that I come to Hogwarts with Bella. But Beauxbatons wasn't home to me… The girls were snooty and rude."

"Yeah. I've noticed during the Triwizard Cup. Were you here during the tournament?"

"No. I wasn't able to go. I suppose I would've met you sooner."

"I might've liked that…"

She smiled, which made me go mad inside. I didn't let her know that though. I wondered what she'd say if she really knew how I felt about her. Did she feel the same way?

After we'd finished out butterbeers, we went to Honeydukes. Liana struggled trying to choose between licorice wands and cauldron cakes. "Which one?" She gave a sexy pout.

"I don't like licorice, so I'd have to say to go with the cauldron cakes," I replied. I stepped to her and took the package of cauldron cakes out of her hand. "On me," I said, dropping some money onto the counter.

"You're quite the gentleman, Malfoy."

"Why thank you, Blake." I walked her back into the castle. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. I sighed in relief when we got back into the warmth of the castle. I walked her back to where the Ravenclaw common room was. "Did you have a good time on our _not_ date?"

"Absolutely. I had a better time with you in one day than a whole year with Seamus," she laughed. I loved her laugh. It was cute and soft. Not loud and obnoxious, like Pansy's.

"That's good to know, Blake."

"Goodnight, Malfoy." Then she did something that I didn't expect her to do. She kissed me. It was only a peck, but it was enough to drive me mad. She smiled when she pulled away, then she began to walk away.

Before she could go, I pulled her into my arms. She looked up at me in surprise. Then I cupped her cheek and kissed her again. This time, I deepened the kiss, allowing our tongues to meet. Finally, I pulled away from her.

"Who knew the Slytherin Prince could be such a good kisser," she said. I saw her blush, but she didn't seem to care. I gave her one last smile before she disappeared around the corner to the Ravenclaw common room.


	3. The Wrong Idea

"Gryffindor takes the lead from Ravenclaw! The score is 50 to 40!" said Luna in her usual dreamy voice. She had on her ridiculous lion hat or whatever it was. I shook my head as the rest of the Slytherins sang another chorus of "Weasley is Our King."

I was distracted because I was too busy thinking about Liana. I couldn't believe she kissed me first. And I couldn't believe that she'd actually kissed me back when I made a move. Then I heard yelling coming from behind me. I saw Liana in the distance with a boy… Seamus. She was stomping away and Seamus was trying to get a hold of her.

My instincts told me to get up and get Liana away from him. "Where are you going?" Pansy asked as I rose. "The match isn't over." I simply ignored her and went down the steps to exit the Quidditch field.

As I got closer, I noticed that Liana's face was stained with tears. "Just stay away from me!" she screamed. I'd never seen her so upset. It hurt me, seeing her that way.

"Liana, please," he said, grabbing her arm.

"Seamus, let go," she said. But he wouldn't give. "Let go of me!"

Then she noticed that I was coming their way. Seamus turned to face me, but it was too late. I'd already shoved him, causing him to stumble backward and let go of Liana.

"Mind your _damn_ business, Malfoy!" Seamus yelled, shoving him back. Just as I was about to punch Seamus in the face, Liana stopped me.

"Come off it! Both of you!" she yelled desperately. I lowered my fist, but not before Seamus could land a punch on my own nose. I stumbled and landed on the ground. "Seamus!" She rushed over to my side. "Your nose… It's bleeding." I touched my nose and looked at my finger, which had a red liquid on it. _Definitely blood_, I thought.

Liana helped me get on my feet, gave a disgusted look to Seamus, muttered something about him being unbelievable, and took me back to the castle. I assumed that she was taking me to the hospital wing, but she led me to the bathroom on the second floor. By then, my nose had already stopped bleeding. I went into a stall, grabbed some tissue and cleaned up the remainder of the blood.

"Thanks," I said finally. I smiled at her, but she didn't return it. She still looked upset. "What's the matter?"

"Seamus. He can be a… handful," she replied. She walked over toward the sinks. "Why'd you leave the match?"

"Because I thought you were in trouble. I was afraid that…"

"That what?"

"That he might've hit you or something."

"He'd never hit me. It's not in him… I'm sorry that he hit you though."

"No need for apologies…" She stepped closer toward me. I looked down into those piercing green eyes and I gave in to temptation. I leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her hands around my neck as she kissed me back. Then I pulled away. "This is where we first met…"

"How romantic," she said before leaning in to kiss me again.

Liana and I walked to the Great Hall for dinner that night. I found Pansy waiting by the door. _Great_, I thought. _Way to ruin the perfect afternoon. _She frowned when she saw Liana walking with me.

"Where were you?" she asked me, crossing her arms. I laughed out loud, with Liana joining in with me.

"I don't believe you're in any position to ask me personal questions," I responded. "Where I go doesn't concern you."

"Let me guess… You were with this filthy Half-Blood?"

"I have a name," Liana said immediately. "Liana Blake… Learn it. You'll be seeing a lot of me around here." Then she added in a sexy voice, "_Especially_ with Draco." Pansy had nothing to say. She only rolled her eyes and bolted into the Great Hall.

"So are you implying that you want to spend _every_ waking hour with me, Blake?" I asked jokingly. She gave me a soft punch in the arm.

"In. Your. Dreams. Malfoy," she said, entering the Great Hall. I took my usual seat across from Blaise at the Slytherin table, with Crabbe and Goyle on my left and right. Thank goodness, Pansy was nowhere in sight.

Two weeks later…

I was practically falling asleep in Transfiguration one afternoon. I'd hardly gotten any sleep because I'd been mending the cabinet. I finally figured out how to fix it, at least. So far, it was going well. I figured it would be fixed very soon.

At the end of class, McGonagall called me to her desk. "Mr. Malfoy, I expect that you will hand in your assignment tomorrow afternoon. It is already late and you cannot afford to fail this class. If you don't do well on your assignment, I'm afraid that you'll have to have a tutor."

"I understand, Professor," I said. My grades were slipping and the stress of my mission was really starting to get to me. I wished that I could just get it over with. There was just so much pressure and I didn't know how to cope.

"I hope so. You may go," she said, dismissing me. It was my last class of the day and I was very grateful for that. I just needed to get some sleep. To my dismay, I was stopped by Pansy on my way to the common room. She followed behind me as I dragged myself up the staircase.

"What is it, Pansy?" I asked, rather annoyed. I turned around to face her, but before I could, her lips were already on mine. Before I got a chance to blink, I saw Liana at the end of the corridor looking right at us. Then she took off. I pushed Pansy off of me and literally, ran after her.

"Liana!" I called through the hallways, pushing through groups of students who had also gotten out of class. It would be impossible to find her in the crowd, so I gave up.

I went back to the Slytherin common room and found Blaise hard at work on his assignments. "Hey," he said. "I got invited to Slughorn's Fall Ball next weekend. Who should I ask?"

"I don't care," I said, slumping into an armchair.

"What's with you?"

"Pansy… Always ruins _everything_! Me and Liana sort of, have a thing going on and Pansy's gone mad with jealousy. So she kissed me and Liana saw. And now she hates me," I confessed. One good thing about Blaise was that he was a good listener. He wasn't as obnoxious as Crabbe and Goyle.

"Pansy is irrelevant. Isn't Liana a half-blood?"

"Who cares about blood purity? Honestly!" Blaise was beginning to piss me off.

"As your friend, I'm letting you know that she's in the Slug Club. Which means that she'll most likely be going to the Ball, which means that she'll need a date. If she doesn't completely hate you, then maybe she'll ask you."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Just hope that she does." Blaise was right. I should've been thinking positively. I'd talk to her later. Hopefully she'd forgive me… I mean, I was caught off guard. Pansy was a bitch. She probably arranged for Liana to be walking down the hall when she kissed me.

I spotted her talking to Isabella at the other end of the Slytherin table at dinner. I took a deep breath and walked toward her. Isabella looked at me as I walked toward them, but Liana didn't turn around. "Liana," I said softly. "Can we talk?"

She finally turned around. She took a sip of whatever was in her cup and said, "There's nothing to talk about." I realized that those were my exact words from when Liana had asked _me_ to talk.

"I just need to talk to you," I said. "Please." She hesitated, but left Isabella and followed me into the empty hallway.

She folded her arms and whipped her hair out of her face. "Well what's on your mind, Malfoy?"

"I just wanted to let you know that the kiss from Pansy earlier meant nothing to me. And that I was caught off guard. I never wanted to kiss her… You should already know that. I'm sorry"

"Okay, Malfoy."

"Okay?" I took a couple of steps backward and scratched the back of my head. "That's it?"

"Well what do you want me to say?"

"Why are you acting like this? You know Pansy means nothing to me. I like _you_, Liana." She stared at me for a long time. Her gaze was unreadable. Emotionless. I couldn't tell what she was feeling or what she was thinking. She was silent.

Then after a few moments, she turned around and left me where I stood. I was humiliated. Had I really deserved this? Why was she acting so strange? And most importantly, why didn't she say anything when I told her how I felt about her? Did she like me? Was she leading me on? Was this "thing" we had going on real or not?

I was supposed to help her with Potions that evening in the library. We'd planned it a few days ago. I was willing to help her, but was she willing to show up? I went to the library at seven, the time we were supposed to meet. I read an old copy of the Prophet to pass the time. I kept checking the clock. An hour had passed and she hadn't even bothered to show up.

Liana Blake was nowhere to be found. I longed for her touch. I yearned for her lips pressed against mine. I wanted her and she wasn't going to let me have her. At that point, it looked like whatever "thing" we had going on was over before it even started.


	4. Perfect

About a whole week had gone by and Liana was acting as if I ceased to exist. The Fall Ball was in a few days and she hadn't asked me like I'd hoped, or talk to me for that matter. It was killing me. The only positive thing I had going was that I was passing Transfiguration, so I wouldn't need a tutor.

I was in my room. Neither of my roommates was there, so I rummaged through my drawers until I found a bottle. A bottle of poisoned mead that I was supposed to give to Dumbledore. But I couldn't bring myself to. Sure, it'd be an easy way out of this mess… but it would never work and I knew it.

I sighed, which led to me breaking down. I couldn't stop. It was just too much. Everything with Liana, the mission, keeping up with my assignments… It was all too much to bear. I looked in the mirror and didn't even recognize myself. I was ghastly pale and very skinny. I hadn't really had much of an appetite, actually. At least if Liana and I were on speaking terms, it would make me happy. But she'd made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. I just wanted to know why. That's all I wanted. I laughed because I'd just lied to myself. I wanted _her_ as well.

* * *

I put on a white blouse with black pants and a blazer to match. I put on my gold watch and went downstairs to the common room to meet Flora Carrow. She'd asked me to go with her just a couple days ago. She was only a fourth year, but that didn't matter. I was only going because I wanted to see who Liana was going with. I knew it was mean, but I'd get away with it as long as I kept my cool.

She was wearing a knee length green dress, of course. She smiled when she saw me. "You look lovely," I said, holding my arm out. She took it and together we made our way to the Ball. By the time we got there, it seemed that mostly everyone had already arrived. I didn't see Liana though.

"I'll go get us some drinks," I said, smiling before I left her. I spotted her twin sister, Hestia as I walked by. I went to the punch bowl, getting a cup. I poured some inside and took a gulp. Where was Liana?

My thought was interrupted when Blaise stepped in front of me. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm with Flora," I said, taking another sip. He smiled and shook his head. "I'm assuming that you're with Tracey?" Blaise nodded.

"You always find a way to get what you want, eh?"

"Of course," I said, smirking. I turned and I saw her… with Finnigan! What the bloody hell was _he_ doing here? And with her? I poured punch into another cup for Flora and returned to her.

"Thank you. There's something different about you, Malfoy. Why are you being so kind?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "I never thought that you'd actually say yes when I asked."

"Why's that?" I asked, looking in the crowd to see where Liana had taken off to.

"Because I'm only a fourth year… and you are Draco Malfoy." I didn't answer her. I only smirked.

"Care to dance?"

"Sure."

I caught Liana's eye as I danced with Flora. She was a nice person. Maybe we could be close. As friends of course. Liana frowned when she saw me. Maybe she was jealous. I sure hoped so. Because I wanted to hurt her, just as she'd hurt me.

I smiled and so did Flora. She must've thought I was smiling at her. I felt a little guilty about using Flora to get to Liana, but it had to be done. I was actually having a good time. Especially watching Harry and Hermione dance… They were arguing because apparently Harry was stepping all over her toes with every step.

* * *

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liana leave. There was my chance. I excused myself and left the party to find Liana. She was just around the corner sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest. She was crying. _Great_, I thought. _This will be much more challenging._

I sat down next to her and stared at her, but she wouldn't acknowledge me. Finally, she said, "You win."

"What? What do you mean that I win?" I hadn't the faintest idea as to what she was talking about. Had we been playing some game that I didn't know about?

"You win. You proved your point."

"Why did you come with Seamus?"

"Because I figured it would annoy you the most when you heard about it. I heard that you and Flora were going together…You know how gossip spreads around here… Why'd you come with Flora?"

"Because I had to see you. And I wanted to see who you came with since that guy wasn't me."

"Well you saw me," she said. Then she finally looked at me. "Remember when you told me that you liked me?" I nodded.

I remembered perfectly well. "Why didn't you say anything? You made me look like an idiot. I told you how I felt about you and didn't say a thing. Then you ignore me for two weeks? I don't understand." I wanted answers and I wanted them now. She'd been holding back a lot of things and she needed to tell me what the hell was going on with us.

"I just… I don't know. It's just that it's hard to tell someone how you feel after getting your heart broken. I regretted not saying anything to you. I mean, I was being a bitch that day because it hurt seeing you with Pansy. I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't know what to say."

"I know that it's hard. A lot's been going on and I haven't stopped thinking about you."

"I haven't either. I like you too… And I'll admit that I was jealous when I saw you with Flora."

"Not as jealous as I was seeing you with Seamus… Especially after he punched me in the nose. Are you two together?"

"Of course not. We're just friends. I don't want him."

"So who do you want then?" I said softly. She looked down at her shoes. She didn't say anything for a moment. I used my fingertips to put her chin up so that she was facing me. "Who do you want?" I repeated. Liana leaned closer to me so that our noses were touching.

"I want you," she whispered. Then her lips crashed into mine. All the emotions built up inside of us had taken over. I finally got what I wanted. This kiss was different from the others. This time, there was passion and it drove me mad. I'd never liked anyone this much in my life. I could've cried when she pulled away from me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This is perfect."

"I want to be with you," I said. "Do you want to… give us a go?"

"I'd like that."

"Let's get out of here," I suggested. I stood up, brushed myself off and helped my new girlfriend up. I could hardly believe it. Liana Blake was mine. I loved the thought of that. "First, we should probably make up some excuse to get out of our dates."

"Right," she said and went back inside. I followed a moment later. Walking in together would have been a bit much. Flora turned when she saw me coming. I put on a fake sickly face, hoping it'd get me out of this.

"Are you okay? You look sick," she said. She placed a hand on my arm. "Maybe you should go to the hospital wing. I could walk you."

"No, no. I think I've just had a bad cup of butterbeer. I think I need to sleep," I said, rubbing my stomach. "I'm sorry I'm ruining the party for you. I hope you've had fun."

"Of course. I understand. Who wants to party with an upset stomach?" I smiled in gratitude and took off. On my way out, I didn't see Liana anywhere. I assumed that she had already managed to get away from Seamus.

"Liana," I called, continuing down the hall.

"Draco," I heard her say. I turned around to find her walking toward me. She ran toward me and threw herself in my arms. I held her for a few moments, breathing in the scent of her apple scented perfume. She always smelled like apples. Maybe that was why I found myself eating apples more often… "Don't ever let me go," she whispered.

"I won't," I said. Then I picked her up and carried her all the way to the Astronomy Tower. We sat down side by side, holding hands. The sky was black, and the moon was illuminating the grounds with light.

"Why'd you bring me here?" she asked quietly.

"Because it's quiet. And I like it up here," I replied. I faced her and pulled her in for a kiss. I lay back, putting my hands behind my head. She lay down on my chest, listening to my heart beat. I was nervous, so it was probably beating twice as fast. "What are you thinking about?"

"You, of course," she said. I smiled. There was no place I'd rather be than with her. Nothing could possibly change that. She meant more to me than some stupid ball or even my mission. I wished that we could just run away so that we could really be together.

**How do you like the fanfic? Is it any good? If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to review and/or message me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And hopefully you'll enjoy the ones to come. Trust me, Draco is going to do something extremely drastic. And it'll put damn near everyone in danger. Suspense! **


	5. Regret

The holidays were approaching. But it wouldn't be a very happy holiday for me. It could be my last holiday. Especially if I failed my mission. Then I'd never see Liana again.

I wasn't afraid to let anyone know that Liana and I were together. I openly held her hand in the hallways and kissed her before she went off to class. People were surprised, but they didn't say anything. Nobody was used to seeing me actually with anyone. Neither was I. This was my first real relationship that I gave a damn about.

I'd given up on the Cabinet. I was convinced that it couldn't be fixed. After all, my subtle attempts to kill Dumbledore hadn't worked out. I was glad they hadn't. Everyone would hate me forever, including Liana.

Since I was with Liana, I was getting used to Seamus' dirty looks and Pansy's disgust. I enjoyed watching Pansy squirm out of the corner of my eye when she saw us hugging or snogging.

Snape grabbed me one evening after I'd finished dinner. He dragged me by my robes and shoved me into his classroom. "You do realize that you've endangered several people in your pathetic attempts to carry out your deed, don't you?"

I looked down at the floor, refusing to meet his eye. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Do you think that the Dark Lord will care that you're 'sorry?'"

"Well what do you want me to do? I'm trying!"

"Fix that Cabinet! That's your only option. And if you do fail, I suggest that you make sure that he doesn't find out about your current relationship. He _will_ use her as bait if he finds out."

I trembled where I stood. Snape was right. Being with her was putting her in danger. I couldn't let that happen. If I had to die, then so be it. But I couldn't let her die too. I had to break up with her, for both of our sakes. "Okay," I said. "I know what to do."

With that, Snape opened the door for me to leave. I exited the room and pulled an apple out of my pocket. The scent reminded me of her… My beautiful girlfriend… I was going to regret what I was about to do forever, but it had to be done.

I took out a piece of parchment and scribbled a note for Liana to meet me where we first met at ten o'clock. I didn't want anyone else to know of our whereabouts. Especially not if the note fell into the wrong hands. I passed a Ravenclaw in the corridor, who agreed to give the note to Liana.

I went to the Slytherin common room and waited rather impatiently for ten o'clock to come. I had three more hours to go. I decided to start my assignments. Blaise sat across from me, taking out his work as well. "Did I mention that Tracey and I are together?"

I sighed. "No. Since when?"

"Since yesterday," he replied. He noticed my depressed look. "What's the matter with you? You were fine at dinner."

"I have to break up with her… Liana. It's best for the both of us," I said, picking up my quill. I started scribbling away, wondering if I was making the right choice.

**Liana's POV**

I wondered what Draco wanted. Maybe he just wanted to spend time alone with me. But it wasn't like we didn't spend enough time together. I mean, he'd been tutoring me in Potions, which I'd been doing much better in. Maybe I wouldn't do absolutely terrible on my N.E.W.T.'s after all.

I started walking to the abandoned lavatory at five minutes to ten. I was careful not to get caught by Filch or his stupid cat. I hated cats, especially Mrs. Norris. I skipped into the bathroom happily to find a rather upset Draco pacing about the room. I took his hand in mine. "Are you okay?"

"No," he replied. "I have to tell you something."

I took a step closer to him, taking his other hand. I kissed his cheek. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."

He looked like he was getting ready to break down. He was a mess. I hated to see him like this. It wasn't like him. "I can't do this anymore. We have to break up."

Anger rose inside me. "What for? Everything was fine this afternoon… What's going on, Draco?"

"The Dark Lord… If he finds out about you, you'll be in danger. He'd use you to get to me if I fail. Trust me, it'll be safer this way," he said softly. I dropped his hands and backed away from him.

"If you fail?" I said. He nodded, tears forming in his eyes. Tears began forming in my own. "You don't have to do this. There's a way out. There's always a way."

"With Voldemort, there is no way out! Don't you understand? Do you know how many people he's murdered?"

"I know what he's capable of! He killed my own mother! Luckily, I was out with my father so we were spared or he would've murdered us as well."

"I didn't know."

"I know. It's just… You can run away, Draco… run far, far away. You can't do it. You aren't meant to murder." I placed my hand on his shoulder. He said nothing. I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, "Think about it." I left the lavatory, leaving Draco to his thoughts.

I couldn't hide how hurt I was anymore. I just wanted to be with him. I couldn't imagine not being with him. It would be unbearable. I needed him. He completed me.

**Draco's POV**

Liana had a point. I could run away. But where would I run to. Running would require me to leave Britain altogether. But where could I possibly go? I had no idea. Would I be safe anywhere? I still had the Dark Mark. He'd surely call for me, but I couldn't respond.

As soon as Liana left, Harry Potter came into my view. He looked livid. "What have you done, Malfoy? I _know_ it was you who hexed Katie Bell!"

"I didn't mean—" I started. He disarmed me, causing me to land on the floor. My wand landed in his hands. I didn't bother getting up. I wasn't going to fight him.

"She could've died!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I'm sorry for everything! I never wanted this. I was forced into being a Death Eater, Harry. I know that I'm a horrible person, but not horrible enough to actually _want_ to become a Death Eater. I've been… thinking a lot lately."

Harry's face softened, but he still didn't appear very friendly. "So what are you going to do?" I finally stood up.

"I don't know. I'm considering running away. I know it's crazy, but—"

"That's brilliant!"

"It is? Couldn't he still find me?"

"There's a chance, but maybe the Dark Marks have boundaries. Maybe they don't work in Australia or South America. I'll have to ask Hermione about that."

"Thanks, Potter," I said, holding out my hand. "Truce?"

"Truce," he said, shaking my hand. He paused. "But I still sort of hate you." I laughed, a real one without sarcasm. "I sort of hate me too," I admitted and gave a shrug. Together, we left the lavatory only to run into Filch. He had Liana too.

"My, my, my… Look what we have here," he said, smiling. He turned all of us in to Professor McGonagall, who assigned us to detention on Friday evening.

"I'm disappointed in all of you," she said. "Especially you, Miss Blake. Now, I expect that all of you will report back to your dormitories." Then she dismissed us. Liana hurried off to the Ravenclaw dorms, without saying goodnight to me or Harry. Not that I expected her to say anything to Harry.

The next few days were a blur. I woke up every morning, got dressed, ate, went to class, ate, went to more classes, ate, did homework, then went to bed. That was my daily routine. Liana wasn't speaking to me. She wouldn't look at me either. I didn't try to talk to her either, but it was strange for her not to make an effort. I wanted her back badly, but I couldn't let my feelings for her get in the way of keeping her out of harm's way.

After dinner on Friday, I went back up to my room before I had to serve my detention. I rummaged through my drawers until I found a purple box. I opened it to see the Christmas gift I'd bought Liana. It was a silver bracelet with emerald stones to match her eyes. I wondered whether I should give it to her or not.

Christmas was a week away and everyone would be leaving in a few days to go home. I was supposed to be going home for the holidays, but I didn't want to go back to Malfoy Manor. It would only remind me of how lonely I was. I was awfully lonely though. It hadn't been a week since I ended things with Liana, but it felt far longer than that.

I sighed and left the dorm to go to Professor McGonagall's office, where Liana and Harry were already waiting. Professor McGonagall rose in her chair and said, "I have business to attend to tonight, so you will be serving your detention with Professor Snape instead. _Great_, I thought. Harry groaned and Liana stood emotionless.

Professor Snape arrived with a smirk on his face. He escorted us out of McGonagall's office and into his own classroom for Defense against the Dark Arts. I wondered what terrible tasks he'd give us. Instead, he simply said for us to organize the bookshelves, dust them, and sweep the floors. He took our wands so that we'd have to do it all by hand. I supposed that this was part of our punishment.

We decided to start on the bookshelves, organizing textbooks. Harry and I made small talk while Liana was silent. Soon enough we were finished and Snape let us go without a fight. Liana rushed out of the classroom, but this time I caught up with her. Then I spoke. "You can't ignore me forever."

"I can ignore you for now," she said. She leaned against the wall. "I'm hurting, Draco."

"You don't think this hurts me too? I did this for us. I need for you to be safe, whether I die or not."

"Don't say that. You're not going to die. If you die, part of me will die too. I couldn't bear living without you by my side."

I gave her a small smile. Then I got cocky. "Is it because you fancy me?" She plucked me and broke out into a huge grin. I leaned closer to her, her piercing green eyes nearly swallowing me whole. Her eyes saw me as me, not as the "Slytherin Prince" or anything like that. "I can't stay away from you, you know that?" I felt her breath against my lips. This time, she kissed me.

"Did you think about what I said? About running away?"

"Yes. I think I might go to America. Maybe Salem… There's bound to be witches and wizards there."

"When are you leaving?"

"I didn't get that far," I said. I thought about it for a moment. "How about the day before everyone leaves for the holiday?"

"Take me with you."

"What? No! Absolutely not. It's too dangerous."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I can't guarantee that."

"You can't just leave me here! You can't tell me that you like me, then break up with me two months later, expecting everything to be all right. I know there are risks, but I'm willing to take them."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you willing to give up everything and put your life in danger?" I snapped.

"Because," she said. "Because… I-I love you."


	6. The Escape

"You don't love me," I said, hoping that she didn't mean it and that it had just slipped out. She shook her head and her face turned red.

"How are you going to tell me who I love?" she demanded, shoving me into the wall.

"Fine then," I said, not sure of what I should say next.

"So that's it?"

"I don't know how I feel right now." She planted a kiss on my cheek.

"It's going to be okay." Blood rushed to my face, making me slightly pink.

"How can you say that? You know it's not true. My life is hell right now," I yelled. She slapped me across the face with the back of her hand. My eyes widened as I rubbed where she'd hit me.

"You don't think that my life has been hell as well? Do you know how screwed up my life is? A drunken git for a father, a dead mother… Even though I'm with Bella, I still feel out of place. Like I don't belong. You know?" I was still shocked, so I said nothing. "I'm sorry." Then she left me where I stood.

The holidays were just three days away. I'd started packing up my things. I wouldn't be coming back. Thankfully, I was able to Apparate. I'd passed the exam and was registered to do it. Not everyone had the approval. I wondered if Liana did.

* * *

It pained me every time Liana looked at me. By the look in her eyes I already knew that there were things that she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to say them. Finally, I couldn't take it. Every time she saw me, she went the other way. I figured this was a better approach than avoiding me completely.

I hid in the broom closet one night, waiting for her to pass. I knew that she'd had dinner with Slughorn and the rest of his stupid club. This was the hallway she always took to get back to the Ravenclaw common room. When I heard her humming, I opened the door and pulled her inside with me. She started hitting me and screaming. "Calm down," I said, putting a finger to her lips.

"What are you doing?" she asked, still not smiling.

"Come with me," I said. "I can't be without you. I need you in my life, Liana."

"Okay," she said softly. "Why wouldn't you let me come the other day?"

"Because . . . I care about you too much to let you go."

"Are you sure?" I rolled my eyes, the way she usually did.

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure," I said, pulling her in for a long kiss. "What about your family?"

"They'll be fine without me. Maybe one day, I can tell Bella everything and explain. What about yours?"

"What about them?" I spat. "The only person that cares is my mother. My father is in Azkaban. And the rest of my family members are insane."

"I care," she said.

"We'll leave the day after tomorrow," I said. "Bring everything you need with you. Listen to me, Liana."

"I'm listening."

"You have to do as I say. We mustn't falter. Do as I tell you to and we'll be fine."

"Okay." I hugged her and kissed her forehead.

"I'll see you later. Good night," I said before leaving to go to bed. I was exhausted. I collapsed on my bed. Blaise was up reading some book.

"It's all over school, you know," he said. "You and Liana's breakup… I hear that Pansy's going to seduce you and get you to sleep with her."

"She's mental if she thinks I'd ever shag her again," I said, pulling on my pajamas. "I need a vacation."

"Me too," Blaise said. "Canada is beautiful. My father is from there." I listened to Blaise blabber about his vacations to Niagara Falls and Vancouver, but I was asleep before he noticed I wasn't listening.

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling good. Liana and I were on good terms again. And soon we would be leaving Europe, for good. I took a shower and got ready for breakfast. I walked to the Great Hall alone. I'd decided not to wait for Blaise because he was taking forever trying to find his wand. "What are you doing for the holidays?" a familiar voice asked.

I turned around to find Flora Carrow. "I'll be going back home to the Manor." She smiled. "And yourself?"

"I'm going to Italy to stay with my cousins. They live in Florence," she said. I watched as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She was pretty, for a fourth year, but nowhere near as beautiful as Liana.

"That sounds good," I said. I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione outside of the Great Hall waving me over. I smiled at Flora. "I've got to go. I'll see you later." She nodded before she walked into the Great Hall.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Hermione's got some good news," Harry said. I raised my eyebrows, hoping that whatever it was would help. He led us to the abandoned lavatory before anything was said. I shut the door behind us. Surprisingly, Moaning Myrtle was nowhere in sight.

"I've done some research . . . in the library on the Dark Mark. The book I've read said that it, sort of, deactivates when you leave the country that you received the Mark in. So if you leave Europe, the chances of you-know-who finding you are far less likely," said Hermione.

"Are you bloody mad?" exclaimed Ron. His cheeks turned slightly pink and his eyes were wild. "How do you know he's not watching you or something? I mean, I don't like you . . . at all, but this whole plan is just . . . well, _mad_!"

Ron had a point. I supposed Snape was watching me, but were there others? "It all depends on the plan," Harry said. He turned to me. "What do you plan to do?"

"Fly out of here," I said. "Liana's coming with me. I can't leave her here. It's not—"

Hermione gasped. "Bring her with you? Isn't that dangerous?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed impatiently. "I know it's dangerous, but it's just as dangerous to leave her here. When Voldemort discovers that I've defied him, he'll probably try to take over Hogwarts. What if he starts torturing people for information? Surely someone would mention Liana. If she stays, he'd kill her . . . and I can't let that happen."

"So what's your plan exactly?" asked Hermione shakily.

"We'll leave in the middle of the night. Probably around three or four. We'll bring our trunks and hook them on our brooms and fly to America, of course."

"So you're going to pull a Weasley?" Ron asked. We all laughed a bit.

"Yes, we're going to pull a Weasley," I said, smirking.

* * *

I had my trunk ready, as well as my broom. I enchanted my trunk to float behind me. It would be much quieter that way. I got out of bed as Blaise snored loudly from the other side of the room. I would miss Blaise. Out of all of my friends, I liked him the most. Maybe someday I'd get to see him again and catch up.

I crept out of my room and into the common room, which was completely empty. I tiptoed out of the room and into the corridor. The halls were dimly lit, so I wouldn't have to wake the paintings if I cast "Lumos."

I didn't see her when I walked to the courtyard, where we agreed to meet. I leaned against the column and waited. A few seconds later, I saw her emerge from out of nowhere. "I don't like to be kept waiting," I said. She laughed and hit me on the arm.

"Let's do this," she said, hooking her trunk onto her broom. I did the same. I mounted my broom as did she.

"Did you bring the compass?" I asked.

"Of course," she said. "We'd be dead meat without it." She looked at me. "Are you afraid?"

"I feel like this was too easy. Of course I'm afraid! This is mad! But there's no time to lose. Let's go before someone spots us." I floated up into the air and took off, with Liana flying closely behind me. It felt good to be on my broom again. I hadn't played Quidditch since I quit the team. I wished that I could play again. Did people in Salem play Quidditch too? I looked back at Hogwarts. It was probably the last time I'd see it.

* * *

"America's further north. We should be there in a couple of hours." _Good_, I thought. I was starving. I reached into my pocket and pulled out two green apples. I handed one to Liana, who took it and smiled. "Why are you always eating apples?"

"Because they remind me of you. You smell like them all of the time. So sweet . . ." We flew silently for the next several agonizing hours. Flying this distance was so boring. I pulled up my sleeve. My Dark Mark was fading. It was much lighter than it had ever been. Hermione must've been right. Maybe it was deactivating.

"I'm so bored!" I cried. I looked out at the ocean in front of us. "Where the hell are we?"

"We're over the Atlantic Ocean. We'll be there soon." I pouted and flew faster.

Hours later, we were finally above some land. I looked down at the buildings. It was much different than back at home. Even the air smelled different. I looked in the distance and saw something flying. A bird? I squinted and realized that it was a person. Another wizard . . . or witch!

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update. I've been busy writing my Hunger Games fanfic, The Four Victors, which is my most popular story. I've just published it about a week and a half ago and it already has over 800 reads. I'm proud of myself lol. But I know that this chapter's a little tedious, just bear with me. A few more chapters is where the fun really begins. Is Draco mad? Mad, yet brilliant . . . Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter somewhat 3  
**


	7. The Truth

**It's been a while. Sorry to keep you waiting. Do me a favor and disregard the paragraph from the previous chapter. I didn't mean to put that there :/**

* * *

We arrived in New York City after several hours. It was Liana's idea. She said that she always wanted to go back. She explained that she once went when she was a little girl with her grandfather.

We landed our brooms in an alley and stuffed them into our trunks, which we hid with a concealment charm. Liana led me around the corner, where we started exploring the beautiful city with giant skyscrapers and flashing lights. There were so many people, but they were looking at us strangely as they walked by.

I looked down at myself. Liana and I were still in our Slytherin and Ravenclaw robes. "So we need to find a place to live," I told her. "How do we get to Salem anyway?" I looked around. We were on Fifty Second Street and Second Avenue, according to the green rectangular signs on the corners.

"Taxi?" she said, unsurely. She put her hand out and a yellow taxi pulled up to us. "I remember seeing Grandfather do it."

"Where to?" the man in the car asked us.

"We're looking to go to Salem, Massachusetts. Do you know which direction that would be in?" I asked the man.

"It would be eastward, definitely."

"Thank you very much."

We went back to the alley which we landed in and got back on our broomsticks. We rose in the air and flew high into the sky. "Won't the Muggles see us?" Liana asked me.

"Probably. Who cares?" I said, laughing a bit. Liana laughed too. She pulled out her compass again and led us east. About an hour later, we came across a young girl flying on a broom. She smiled at us as she flew toward us. Another witch!

"Do you know where Salem is?" I asked the girl.

"Sure. I live in Salem. Just follow me," she said. Then she raised her eyebrows at us. "You're not from here are you?"

"No. We're from Europe," I replied. We hadn't exactly tried to cover up our obviously English accents.

"Is it nice there?" she asked me.

"I suppose. I like America better, I think," I said.

"America's okay. How old are you two anyway?" she asked.

"We're both sixteen," I said. "I'm Draco."

"And I'm Liana," Liana told the girl.

"I'm Jennifer," Jennifer told us. "I can show you around if you like… If you need a bank or an owl or books or whatever…"

"That'd be great. And is there any way to convert our money into Muggle money?" I said.

"Of course," Jennifer said with a smile, beginning to descend. We followed her lead and followed her into Salem.

"Well a bank would be quite useful. But all of my money is in Gringott's and it's not even converted into American money."

"That's no problem. We have atm machines at Tasping Bank. I'll show you." I called Liana from across the street. We introduced ourselves to the girl, whose name was Jennifer Brooke. She led us into the alley she came from. "Alohomora," she said and waved her hand across the bricks. An archway was formed and we followed Jennifer inside down the staircase. She led us into what looked like a shopping center. We went inside Tasping Bank and I approached the atm.

"What do I do?" I asked Jennifer, utterly clueless. The machine looked very complicated to me. What were all those buttons? And what did that hole in the middle of the machine do?

"Insert your wand and then put in your pass code," she replied. I did as she said and my savings popped up. I entered that I wanted to take out another ten thousand dollars in Muggle money. The machine thrust out several hundred dollar bills, which I stuffed into my bag. Liana did the same and took out money as well. She told me that her family always had money, but that her father wasted plenty of it on alcohol.

Jennifer informed me that she was in her sixth year at the Salem Witches' Institute. She also lived a few blocks from us. She gave us her address and said that we could visit her on weekends or to just send her an owl. "At my school, since I live so close by, I can go home whenever I want. As long as I have permission, of course," she said. "Will you two be enrolling next term?"

"That's sounds really nice," said Liana, smiling. "But we can't… It's too risky." Her smile immediately went away.

"What's wrong?" asked Jennifer.

"It's a long story. Maybe we'll explain later," Liana told her.

I also bought a male owl, who we decided to name Terry. Fortunately, they still used owl post in America. I'd write to Harry as soon as we found a hotel or something. Jennifer recommended Merryweather Inn. "It's no five star hotel, but I hear they have a really good breakfast buffet and the rooms are real nice," Jennifer had explained over dinner at a restaurant called Wight's.

"Thanks for all your help," Liana said. "We'll send you an owl in a few days. We should all get together again."

"No problem. It was nice meeting you," Jennifer said before putting money on the table and walking off in the opposite direction, broomstick in hand.

Liana and I went inside Merryweather Inn, a few doors from Tasping National Bank. The inn was grand enough for me, but we just needed someplace to stay until we found a place of our own. It would do. I went up to the wooden desk to check in. Behind it, sat an old woman with gigantic glasses that took up most of her face. "May I help you?" she asked in a nasally voice.

"I'd like to book two rooms. Connecting, if you have," I replied.

"We have rooms 205 and 206," she said. "Or we have the two bedroom suite: room 401."

I looked at Liana, waiting for a response from her. "We'll take the suite," she told the woman, who placed a key on top of the desk. "You'll be charged 200 dollars per night," the woman with the glasses said before we took the elevator to the fourth floor.

* * *

I opened the door and stepped inside. There was a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms with bathrooms in each, and even a balcony which overlooked Valerium End, where all the stores were. "Check out the view!" exclaimed Liana. "It's beautiful." I looked outside and paid attention to my surroundings. It was a beautiful view. Breathtaking, actually… Probably because it was night time.

I pulled her into a hug from behind. "I haven't been able to do that for hours," I said, brushing a kiss on her cheek. She spun around to face me. "Or this," she purred and kissed me on the lips sweetly.

I smiled, making her smile too. Then she pulled away for a moment. "Wait a second," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I thought that we broke up."

I frowned. "Broke up? Why the hell would I break up with you? That's ridiculous."

She smiled. "I'm glad you find it so ridiculous," she said and chuckled.

"Just shut up and kiss me," I said. Surprisingly, she didn't hesitate. She leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. Then she said, "I'm going to get ready for bed. I'm exhausted."

"Okay," I said, staying out on the balcony for a few more minutes before doing the same. We had a long day ahead of us: house and job hunting, I supposed.

* * *

I crawled into bed about a half an hour later, after kissing Liana good night. I smiled at the thought of her. I couldn't believe that just a couple weeks ago, I intended on letting her go. All because of Voldemort. Thinking of Voldemort, I looked down at my arm to find that my Dark Mark had completely vanished. It was nowhere to be found. I grinned with happiness and relief. I fell asleep, enveloped in my thoughts of finally being happy again.

I couldn't ever go back to England, not until Voldemort was defeated. I really hoped that Harry could destroy him once and for all, freeing us all of worry and constant fear.

I felt someone lay next to me in the middle of the night. Whoever it was wrapped their arms around me. I knew it was Liana because I smelled apples and because well… I just knew Liana was near. I turned over to face her. "What are you doing in here?" I yawned sleepily.

"I don't want to be alone," she whispered. Silence. "I'm glad I came here with you."

"You wouldn't have let me leave without you. You didn't exactly leave me any options."

She smirked. "You're right."

"I'm glad you came too," I said softly, reaching for her curly waves of dark brown hair. I stroked her hair and looked into her eyes. "I meant what I said the other day… about loving you. I _do_ love you."

"I love you too," she said and closed her eyes. I kissed her forehead and closed my eyes as well. Then I drifted off into a wonderful dream, where Liana and I got married. I wanted to make that happen one day. That is, if we made it that far…

* * *

**Yay! Love is such a beautiful thing but most guys now a days just screw you over, then leave you to wallow in your own sorrow :( But anyway, on a happier note, the next chapter will be based on what's happening at Hogwarts :) Stay tuned! And review!  
**

**~Lola Estheim  
**


	8. Discord

**Seamus POV**

I woke up the next morning feeling more tired than usual. I dragged myself out of bed, past Weasley's snores, and into the bathrooms for a shower. As I drenched my body in the warm water, I suddenly missed Liana terribly.

I walked into the Great Hall with Dean. "Do you think she'll talk to me?" I asked, hopefully. Dean smiled and took a seat next to me.

"I'm sure she will," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Where is she?" I asked, scanning the room. Pretty much everyone in the school was in the room except for Liana . . . and Malfoy. I scowled. "She and Malfoy are missing. I bet the two are snogging in the halls as we speak."

"But weren't they broken up?" Dean asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He scooped some eggs onto his plate and a few sausages. I shrugged.

"They were . . . or maybe they've gotten back together. There's no other reason why they're not present," I said. I wasn't in the mood for breakfast. I poured myself a glass of water and sipped on it, then Professor Snape burst into the room with Professor McGonagall. They hurried to the front of the room. Professor McGonagall said, "May I have your attention, please."

The room was automatically silenced. Professor Snape stood next to her rather awkwardly with his lips pulled tightly together. Professor McGonagall looked worried as she continued on. "I am afraid to say that as of this morning, two of our students have gone missing. The Ministry of Magic has been alerted and parents have been contacted. If you know anything about the disappearances of Miss Liana Blake and Mister Draco Malfoy, please see me as soon as possible."

My heart dropped. Liana? Missing? And possibly with Malfoy? My eyes widened and I buried my face in my hands. Where the hell would she go? Did Voldemort kidnap her or something? He'd never felt so sick in his life. Dean put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll find her," he said. "I'm sure they will."

"But what if they don't? Or what if she's dead? What if I never see her again?"

"Voldemort's back!" a black haired second year shouted. Chaos broke out in the Great Hall as first years screamed, second years laughed, third years gasped, fourth years froze, fifth years stared in disbelief, and sixth years looked bored. The seventh years tried to stop the younger ones from running out of the room.

Before they could do so, Dumbledore walked in. "Silence!" he shouted. Everyone froze. He walked swiftly down the aisle while the trembling first years sat back down in their seats. He whispered something to Snape and McGonagall, which led them to take their seats at the table with the rest of the teachers. "Now, I realize that you've learned that Liana Blake and Draco Malfoy have disappeared from Hogwarts. Voldemort _is_ back. However, I do not believe that he has taken them. He, nor a Death Eater, could possibly walk in unnoticed. I believe that they are together and that they planned to leave on their own, perhaps to leave earlier than usual. Their motives are unknown to me, or anyone else at the moment. But if you do, indeed, know something of relevance, I would appreciate it if you would tell either myself or Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape."

The Great Hall turned into a warzone. I heard my classmates arguing over what had really happened to them, and others trying to comfort Isabella, who had run out of the Great Hall crying about her missing cousin.

I turned to look at Dean in fear. Not being able to see Liana again, the girl I couldn't stop loving? The girl that Malfoy had taken away from me? Gone? Were they really together? For Liana's sake, I hoped that he was. I knew that he'd at least make an effort to try and keep her safe. But I wished I knew if she was safe and if she was happy. I knew that I couldn't make her happy anymore.

* * *

**Pansy POV**

I couldn't believe that Draco was gone. Where could he have gone? And I was sure that he and Liana were together, and Dumbledore thought so too. I could hardly stomach the thought. I should be the one with Draco! Me! Not her!

Draco didn't know what he was missing. What did Liana have that I didn't? I wanted him badly. But he didn't love me, or even like me. I supposed that I should've stopped trying a long time ago, but I was convinced that I could make him like me. He only used me to fulfill his own selfish urges. One day, maybe one day soon, I would make him pay. Then, and only then, I could hurt him. Just like he hurt me.

* * *

**Harry POV**

I obviously wasn't surprised when I heard that Malfoy and Liana were missing. Everyone else around me was panicking, except for Ron and Hermione, of course. "You think they're okay?" Hermione asked.

I shrugged. "They'll be getting along. They know what they're doing."

"I hope so," she said.

Ron was still stuffing his face with muffins. "Didn't he say that he'd send an owl?" I nodded. I took a sip of pumpkin juice, then grabbed my books for class. "I'll see you in Potions," I said, getting up from the table.

After my classes were over, I saw several people standing outside of the Great Hall. I tapped Liana's cousin, Isabella on the shoulder. "What's going on?"

She turned to face me. Her face was a bit swollen. I could tell that she'd been crying. "Rita Skeeter is in there interviewing students."

I scowled. "I can't stand that woman," I said. "She's a bloody liar, she is!" Since last year, she'd been spreading lies about me and Hermione being together. She sauntered out of the room with Seamus, one of her unlucky victims. He looked grief-stricken and pale.

She spotted me and approached me. "Ah, Harry Potter," she said carefully. "Where's Miss Granger?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "We're _not_ together! We never were! Why are you even here? To spread more lies about me and my friends?" She opened her mouth to say something, but I stormed away before anything else could be said.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, aside from the rumors spreading about Draco and Liana's whereabouts and the line of people outside McGonagall's office to talk to her about the two missing students. I was sure that they'd all be rumors and no progress would be made. Or so I hoped. No one would think twice to look outside of Europe. And especially not the United States. Would they?

* * *

**I like the way the story's coming along so far even though it's not as popular as my other fanfics. Does no one like Harry Potter anymore? Lol. I don't know. But anyway, I hope you liked this chapter :)**


	9. Disappearance

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. I turned over to find that Liana was fast asleep, breathing softly. I watched as her chest rose and fell for a few minutes. She was beautiful when she was asleep. I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her up. I went over to the cage where Terry, our new owl, was pecking at something at the bottom of his cage. I patted him gently on the head. Luckily, Terry was rather friendly, so he didn't try to bite my fingers off or anything.

I rummaged through the drawers in the room, looking for a piece of paper. I'd completely forgotten to write Harry. Eventually, I found one in the desk in the living room. I immediately started writing away, writing sloppily so that no one would recognize my handwriting, careful to reveal too much:

We got here okay. This place is sort of interesting. We're not the only ones here. We're safe and hopefully we can get settled all right. I hope you're all right.

I signed: "Sincerely, your new best friend," chuckling to myself. I wondered what his reaction would be to that. Sure, we'd put the past behind us, but we were nowhere near best friends. I wasn't even sure if we'd even consider each other friends. I opened Terry's cage and he hopped onto my forearm. I put the letter in his beak after sealing it, telling him to take it to Harry Potter at Hogwarts. He seemed to nod in agreement before I opened the window, allowing him to begin his journey halfway across the world.

My stomach growled. I looked at the clock. It was early, only seven thirty. I saw a thick booklet lying on the desk, for ordering "room service." Room service? What was that? After analyzing the paper, I realized that it was a menu for ordering food. Apparently, you could order anything you wanted and they'd bring it up to your room. At the Leaky Cauldron, you either ate downstairs or didn't eat at all.

I picked up the phone. It was my first time using one. There were buttons with numbers on it. The directions in the booklet said to press a few numbers. I did as it said and after three rings, someone answered. I was so fascinated that I'd forgotten what I called for. I ordered the continental breakfast, for Liana and I. Then I put the phone back.

Liana entered the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She stretched, letting out a yawn. "Talking to yourself, are you?"

"I was on the phone. I ordered some breakfast, if you _must_ know," I replied. "Muffins, croissants, cereal, fruit, and some juice."

"Sounds great," she said, plopping down onto the sofa. "I'm famished."

"After we eat, do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure. Why not?"

* * *

We explored the city by foot. I thought it was alright. It was quaint. And the people were friendly. As we walked down Laurel Street, Liana nudged me. She pointed to a strange yellow house. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. "Do people here usually leave their doors open?" Liana asked. I normally would've walked by and ignored something like that. Liana started walking toward the door. I only followed because Liana would want me to.

We approached the house, rang the doorbell, and knocked several times. I looked around. There were no cars in the driveway and it appeared as if nobody was home. A woman in the house next door walked out of her house. "Excuse me… Do you know who lives here?" Liana asked her.

"Mr. Daniels lives there, but I haven't seen him in weeks," the woman replied. "Are you family of his?"

"Yes," she lied. "I just wanted to make sure I had the right address." The woman smiled, nodded, and went about whatever business she had.

"Hello?" Liana called, poking her head in the door. We stepped inside and she called again. Nobody seemed to be in the house at all, after we'd searched both floors and the basement. From what I could see, the house was nicely decorated with paintings, knickknacks, and flowers, which were all dead now. It was neat and orderly. The home had a sort of traditional style. It was very cozy, unlike Malfoy Manor. It was the complete opposite of the large estate that I once called home.

I was looking at a picture on one of the dressers. It was of a middle aged man with a woman and child. He assumed them to be his family. Maybe they were on an extended vacation. But they forgot to aloes and lock the door? No. Things weren't adding up. "Draco, look at this," Liana called from downstairs. I trotted down the steps to find her by the front door with a note in her hands. She handed it to me.

_To whomever finds this,_

_ I've decided to leave town and start over. I'm on my way across the country now. I no longer want this house. You can have it. Do what you wish with it. The deed is in the master bedroom under the pillow, along with two copies of the key to the house. The house has been in my family for generations and it's already been paid for. There is also a car in the garage. The key is in the glove compartment and the car is unlocked. Thank you._

This was strange. Some strange person has just decided to leave town and give the house to a stranger? It seemed unlikely that the person would be coming back. I mean, the house was in perfect condition. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a basement and a small backyard. It seemed too good to be true.

"There's something not right about this," I decided. "Maybe this is a set up. I mean, how do we know if there aren't people watching this house right now?"

"Maybe you're right. We should just wait awhile… to see if the person comes back," Liana suggested. We found the deed and the keys to the car and the house, but we put it all back. We left the strange house, shutting the door behind us. As we walked back toward Valerium End, I looked around to make sure we weren't being pursued.

* * *

**Voldemort POV**

"Where is the boy?" I hissed. It'd been nearly a whole day since the youngest Malfoy disappeared. It was almost as if he'd vanished into thin air. Apparently, he was off the radar. I couldn't get in touch with him through his Dark Mark, which meant that, somehow, some way, he'd left Europe all together. But where would he go?

According to Narcissa, she had no idea where he'd go. She was worried. Maybe she knew something that I didn't. But she didn't. I'd already broken into her mind. She knew nothing of any use to me. She was worried for her only child's well being. She knew that when I found him that it would not be a pretty sight.

I wanted Dumbledore killed, but I wanted the Malfoy boy to do it. It'd be quite thrilling to watch. A Malfoy? Killing someone? I chuckled at the very thought. The Malfoys were nothing but a bunch of cowards. They were almost useless to me.

"What if I killed Professor Dumbledore?" asked my most faithful servant, Severus. I grinned.

"As much as I'd like for that to happen, the boy must do it. I want him to do it. I want to see it," I replied. "When we find him, and we _will_ find him, he will carry out the deed. I don't care if it takes years for us to locate him! In the end, it will be worth the price."

"But—" stammered one Death Eater.

"You _dare_ question my decision?" I demanded. I took my wand from my robe and pointed it at the man. "Avada Kedavra!" I shouted, killing him instantly. His body dropped to the ground with a thud. "Now, you shall put your faith in the Dark Lord."

"I have an idea that might bring us closer to getting Draco back," Severus said thoughtfully. I turned to him. "Miss Pansy Parkinson has been close with Draco for several years. Perhaps she may know something that we don't."

"Clever," I said. "Perhaps you might be right."

* * *

**Harry POV**

I saw an owl I'd never seen before swoop into the Great Hall. As soon as I got the letter, I assumed it was from Malfoy. I slipped it into my pocket and excused myself from dinner so that I could open it in private. I couldn't risk letting anyone see it.

I walked by a group of Hufflepuffs on my way back to the abandoned lavatory. No one would be there. "…I'm telling you! Malfoy and Blake got married and ran away to Australia! You can marry at 16 there!"

I rolled my eyes. The rumors were starting to get even more ridiculous now. It'd been two days and it was getting out of hand. I'd heard rumors about Voldemort kidnapping them, about Malfoy kidnapping her because she wouldn't get back together with him, and all sorts of atrocities.

As soon as I got inside, I was greeted by Moaning Myrtle. "Hello, Harry. Is that a letter?" she said, swooping over to me. "Who's it from?"

"No one." I wasn't sure if I wanted Myrtle to know of Malfoy's whereabouts.

"Fine," she said, starting to cry. "You don't have to tell me." She started wailing, flying into her usual toilet.

I shrugged and opened the letter. They were safe in Salem. Relief swept over me. I'd been anxious the past day or so, wondering if they were okay or not.

I told Ron and Hermione once we were back in the common room. They were relieved too. And unfortunately, we spend most of the night doing our Herbology assignments.

I was shaken out of my sleep by an alarmed looking Seamus. "What's happened?" I asked, reaching for my glasses on the nightstand. I peeked out the window. It was still dark. What was going on? "There's been another disappearance," he said. "This time it's Pansy Parkinson."

* * *

**Oh no! Pansy's disappeared. I'm sure all of you have figured out by who. But omg, the next chapter shall be juicy! Review! Review! Review! Love you guys, xoxo.**


	10. Suspicion

**PANSY POV**

I woke up in an unfamiliar place. How'd I get here? Why wasn't I in my bed? I'd fallen asleep in it. So where was I? I stood up and walked around. I'd been here before. I was at Malfoy Manor, in the cellar. I remembered when Draco and I locked Crabbe and Goyle down here as a joke. That was when Draco and I had been close.

I missed those days. Now he loathed me, because he loves _her_. I'd spent summer days at the Manor with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. I wished things could go back to how they used to be.

I heard footsteps coming. Was it Draco? Was he here? Was he coming to let me out of here? I sure hoped so. I rushed to the gate, only to find a man that I didn't know. "The girl is awake," he called up the steps. He unlocked the gate and led me upstairs to the drawing room. I hoped Draco was there. At least I wouldn't feel so alone. There were several Death Eaters and Voldemort himself sat. I gasped.

Were they going to kill me? Draco was nowhere in sight. Perhaps he was missing after all. "Ah, Miss Parkinson," said Voldemort, smiling evilly. "Do you know where Draco is?"

"No," she said. "Why would I know?"

Suddenly, I felt my mind being broken into, my thoughts unraveling and winding through my head. "She knows nothing of any use to us," He said. "But she does have some rather… embarrassing memories involving the boy." I felt my face flush. "Doesn't he make you angry? I mean, he chose some other girl over you… Doesn't that drive you mad? You can get the revenge you want, Pansy. How would you like to join us?"

* * *

**SEAMUS POV**

Harry, Ron, Dean, Neville and I left our room to go to the common room, which was full of our classmates, still in their pajamas. Hermione was attempting to get everyone's attention, since she was prefect. But that wasn't working. Her voice was drowned out from everyone panicking. "Shut it!" roared Ginny. Immediately, everyone was silent.

Hermione gave her a nod of appreciation. "Attention, Gryffindors! We're due in the Great Hall right now, so no wandering off! We don't need… anyone _else_ getting kidnapped." No one objected, instead following her through the portrait, into the corridors, down a few staircases, and down the aisle of the great hall.

I took a seat next to Dean and Harry. "Do you think that whoever kidnapped Pansy kidnapped Draco and Liana too?" I asked aloud, looking around anxiously. Harry was too busy looking to see what was going on in the hallway.

"Maybe," said Dean. "I hope that we can get them all back." I opened my mouth to say something, but I heard a loud "crack." All heads, including mine, turned to see Dumbledore rushing in with the Minister of Magic.

"Attention!" said the Minister. "I am afraid that there has been another disappearance." Panic spread through the room like wildfire. I wasn't surprised because I already knew.

"Silence!" growled Dumbledore.

The minister continued. "I believe that this disappearance is connected to those of Mr. Malfoy and Miss Blake. We have Aurors searching the castle and the surrounding areas. However, I am afraid to say that Hogwarts will be on lockdown until further notice. Parents have been contacted and Aurors will be assigned to patrol the grounds night and day, to ensure the safety of students," he said. "And if things do not improve in this case, Hogwarts may be closed down."

"My father will hear about this!" yelled a familiar voice. I turned to face McLaggen, who did not look very pleased. What could his father possibly do? He didn't have _that_ much power or authority.

"You can't do this!"

"But tomorrow's Christmas!"

"That's rubbish!" shouted a fourth year Slytherin. "That's rubbish, that is!"

"That's _enough_!" shouted Snape from across the room. He rolled his eyes, looking annoyed as ever. I wondered how someone had even managed to get in the castle. Had they come from Hogsmeade or something? I mean, new people didn't just pop in and out of Hogwarts as they pleased. That meant that, unless there was some secret passageway that no one knew about, whoever kidnapped Liana, Draco, and Pansy was already in the castle. And that meant that it could've been a teacher. But to my dismay, I had no evidence… Especially since I'd been asleep when it happened.

* * *

**HARRY POV**

After we were dismissed from the Great Hall, I dragged Hermione and Ron into the abandoned lavatory. "Do you think a teacher could've done it?" I asked them.

"It's possible," said Hermione. "But I already know that you'll assume it's Snape. But he was here the whole time. He and Professor McGonagall are the ones who woke me, to tell me to round up the Gryffindors and take them to the Great Hall."

"It doesn't make any sense," I said. "How could someone just walk in here and take Pansy. Most of us can't even Apparate. And even if we could, we couldn't do it here."

"What about Floo Powder?" asked Ron.

"No," said Hermione. I pulled out the Marauder's Map, remembering that it was in my pocket. I searched it a million times, but there weren't any new names on it.

"Do you think Voldemort's starting to catch on? About Malfoy and Liana?" I asked.

Hermione nodded. "It's pretty obvious that they aren't here. I'm sure he's started looking already. But I can't think of any reason why Pansy would be kidnapped. She's not exactly… relevant to what's going on."

"Voldemort must've taken her," said Ron. "There are no other answers!"

"Maybe you're right, I said.

"But the question is," she said, "how did he manage to get inside?"

* * *

**DRACO POV**

I woke up when I felt Liana brush her lips against mine. When my eyes fluttered open, she smiled. "Good morning," she said. I brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, looking into her piercing green eyes.

"Merry Christmas," I said. She pulled me out of bed, so I followed her. She showed me a package on the floor. I already knew what it was before I tore it open. It was a broom, but one that I'd never seen, since we were in America. "Thank you," I said, hugging her. I looked at the broom which read, Nightrider II. "How'd you know that I wanted one?"

"I know you," she said. I smiled, then went into the bedroom to retrieve her gift. I took a necklace out of the nightstand drawer.

"Close your eyes," I said. Then I put the diamond necklace around her neck. "Beautiful diamonds for my beautiful girlfriend." She opened her eyes, looking at the gift in awe.

"I love it," she said, jumping up to hug me. She held it up close, at eye's level. There, I'd had her name engraved. "Thank you so much. How'd you know?" She mimicked my question from just a moment ago.

"Because I know that you like jewelry," I said.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Why are you so bloody amazing?"

"It comes naturally," I said. "Now, let's go. I've made a reservation for us to have brunch at the best restaurant in Salem."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not." We both started laughing. I loved her so much. This was the best Christmas I'd had in a long time. It was perfect. Spending every day with her was amazing. Much better than back at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, she didn't fall asleep in my arms every night. I was enjoying every moment with her and I intended to keep it that way.

I knew they wouldn't find us. They wouldn't. I mean, how could they? We'd left without a trace.

* * *

**Any thoughts or feelings on what's happening? The really juicy part will be coming soon enough, within a few chapters. Don't worry. **


	11. Discovery

Nearly a week and a half had gone by. We'd been watching the house daily and nothing suspicious went down, so we decided to move in. Actually, it was more Liana's idea than mine. I would've rather just found another place, but for whatever reason, Liana was drawn to it. So I gave in.

We pulled our trunks and Terry's cage into the house. "You take the master bedroom. I'll take one of the others," I said.

Liana shook her head. "It makes no sense," she said, kissing my cheek. "I'm most likely going to end up next to you in the morning."

I smiled and pressed my lips against hers. "Fine," I said. "Have it your way." A smile formed upon my lips as I lifted the trunk up the steps. Liana and I started unpacking.

"Are you hungry?" she asked when we finally finished putting our clothes in the drawers. I nodded. "We're going to go to the supermarket. There's one a couple blocks away. I'm going to have to teach you a lot about the Muggle world, huh?"

"Absolutely," I said, smiling. "Shall we?" She grabbed onto my arm and we left for the supermarket.

We stepped into the cool atmosphere of the supermarket. It was freezing in there. It was bad enough that it was already freezing outside; being that it was already January 4th. I followed Liana toward a sign that read: Bakery. "Fresh bread is the best," Liana explained as she took a fairly long loaf out of its compartment. "Can you go get one of those carts over there?"

I nodded and walked to the front of the store, grabbing a shopping cart and pushing it back to Liana. She put the bread in it. It smelled divine, which did not help the fact that I was famished. She went through various aisles, grabbing things that she deemed necessary. There was even food in freezers. Like, boxed foods. It was all new to me, since I was raised a pure blooded wizard.

When we went to pay, I noticed these machines. They had money in them! And a whole array of buttons to push and press. I supposed I never would've realized how fascinating Muggle life is unless I met Liana.

As we walked home together, bags in hand, I wondered where I'd be if she had stumbled across me in the lavatory that day. Would we have spoken at all? Would I have fallen for her? Would I be so hopelessly in love with her, as I was now? I'd never spoken those three words to anyone in my life.

For some reason, Pansy popped up into my mind. We'd been together at one point. Now that I thought of it, I had no idea why. She wasn't attractive. She used to be, when we were in our third and fourth year, but then she started to resemble a pug. I pushed the thoughts of her away. She no longer mattered. It was irrelevant now.

* * *

A few days later, I was taking a look at one of the bookcases in the study. There were many books I'd never heard of before like _Oliver Twist _and _Wuthering Heights_. I noticed that there were little sliding doors at the back of each shelf. Raising my eyebrows, I opened it and found several familiar books. I found a copy of _Magical Me_ by Gilderoy Lockhart and _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot. I saw some books I assumed to be American, such as _Salem Witch Trials_ by Amanda Locke and _Magic: The American Way_ by James Stewart.

There were even textbooks on transfiguration, spell casting, potion brewing, runes, arithmancy, and other books on Quidditch. _Someone_ who lived in this house, at _some_ point, was a witch or a wizard. "Liana," I called. Just a moment later, I heard her coming down the stairs and she appeared behind me. "Look at these books."

She knelt down next to me, eyes widening in surprise. She ran her fingers across _Magical Me_. "I heard that he was a teacher at Hogwarts about four years ago. I wish I would've been there," she said with a dreamy sigh. I rolled my eyes at her, but she didn't notice. She was obviously too wrapped up in her thoughts of Gilderoy Lockhart. "But now he's at St. Mungo's. Something about memory loss… Poor fellow."

I switched the topic before I had to hear anything else about that pathetic fool. "Whoever lived in this house must have been a witch or wizard," I said. "Why else would they have all of these books?"

"I don't know," she said. She looked at me with concern. "Do you think that they'll come back?"

"Doesn't seem like it. No one seems to be watching the house either."

She picked up a book having to do with the Dark Arts. She began flipping through the pages, taking in its contents. She frowned at one of the pages. "You know the Unforgivable Curses, don't you?"

I slowly nodded, wondering where she was going with this. "I know _how_," I told her. "But I could never…bring myself to."

"Why not?"

I didn't like these questions. They were too painful to answer. "I may be cruel at times…and I know that I'm not the kindest person in the world, but I'm just not that evil. I'm not like the others. I don't even belong in their ranks. It's not something I wanted to do. It was expected of me."

"I know that you're not like the others," she said, leaning closer to me. She pulled me close to her. "I love you no matter what."

I kissed her cheek, feeling its warmth. "I love you too.

* * *

I received a letter from Harry:

_We are on lockdown. Pansy's been taken by Him, I think. I don't know how. School might be closed if this mystery isn't solved. Take care._

Liana read from over my shoulder as I sat in an armchair in the family room. "Why would he take Pansy?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Perhaps He figured she might know something. But if that was the case, He could've just taken Blaise or Crabbe or Goyle. Or He could've just taken all of them at once."

"What do you think He'll do to her?"

"Torture her for information, most likely. Then he'll probably kill her, just for the hell of it."

"That's horrible. That's what Lestrange did to Neville Longbottom's parents, except she didn't exactly kill them."

"Yes," I said, sighing. "That's my famous aunt, Bellatrix."

"What? That's your aunt?"

"She and my mother are sisters."

She sat on the arm of my chair, taking in what I'd just told her. Apparently, we didn't know everything about each other. "I guess I never thought to ask about the other part of your family," she said, running her delicate fingers through my white blonde wisps of hair.

"I wish we could live normal lives. If only Voldemort didn't exist…"

"Then I could meet your parents or something."

"I could, but Father would never approve. Blood purity is important to him. Mother would be happy for me, as long as I'm happy in turn."

"Oh," she said sadly.

I quickly added, "But I would still fight for you. I'd probably get disowned, but it would be worth it if I could have you."

She bent down to brush a soft kiss onto my lips. I smiled and pulled her into my lap so that I could kiss her again.

* * *

**ISABELLA POV**

It was March. My cousin, Liana was nowhere to be found. I was worried sick about her, especially since I had no idea whether or not she was alive. I'd asked Seamus if he knew where she was months ago, but he didn't know anything more than I did. He'd actually broken down in tears when I mentioned her. Both of us missed her terribly, but there was nothing that we could do.

Hogwarts was taken off of lockdown about a month ago. It seemed to be safe, but everyone was still afraid. No one even wanted to go to Hogsmeade. I was afraid to leave the grounds too. I didn't want to get kidnapped as well. Classes were such a burden. It wasn't like anyone could concentrate on their studies enough to do well. The only person who was managing to do well was, of course, Hermione Granger.

I didn't know how much longer I could go without speaking to my cousin. I was an only child, so she was like the sister I'd never had. We were supposed to go to France for the holidays, but I went alone with my parents. It turned out to be the worst holiday ever. It felt so wrong without Liana. My parents were worried about her too, especially when Voldemort was out there somewhere. He could be anywhere, waiting to take someone else as well.

Everyone in the Wizarding world was fearful. No one went anywhere alone, not even at Hogwarts. Everyone made sure that they were at least with one other person before leaving for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Aurors were still guarding the place, but it just felt somewhat safer if I walked around with my group of friends. I wondered when this nightmare would end and when, if she was still out there somewhere, I would be reunited with my dear cousin.

* * *

**LIANA POV**

One cool April night, Draco and I were watching the stars in the backyard. We lay apart from each other, holding hands. "Don't you love nights like this?" I asked, turning my head toward my amazing boyfriend.

"Yes," he said, turning toward me. "I wonder how things are back home…" Suddenly, I let go of his hand and sat up. I started crying. I couldn't help it. "What's wrong?" he asked and sat up with me.

"It's just that… I miss Bella. I wish that I could tell her everything, or at least that I'm okay. She probably thinks I'm dead. And my father is probably worried. And Seamus too," I told him, my vision blurred from my relentless tears.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," he started. He held me closer to him and didn't say anything. I rested my head on his shoulders. The silence soothed me and, after a moment or two, I wiped my tears. I wished he hadn't seen me cry. Well, he's seen me cry plenty of times. Hell, when we met I was crying.

"No, no. I'm all right," I said, wiping my face. He kissed me forehead.

"I miss my mother a bit… But I don't miss my father at all. He's the reason that I'm in this mess. If it wasn't for him, I could be happy!" he spat angrily. I saw him clenching his teeth together.

"You don't mean that," I told him, placing a hand on his.

"But I _do_. I can't stand him," I said. I didn't say anything. We stayed like that for a long time.

"It's getting cold. We should go to bed," I suggested. We both stood and made our way back into the house.


	12. Patiently Waiting

_One month later…_

**HARRY POV**

Pansy was still nowhere to be found. According to the Prophet, neither were Malfoy and Liana. I'd just given Draco's owl, Terry, a letter to give to Draco. I was walking side by side with Ron. "Do you think Terry's being followed?" asked Ron.

I shook my head, though I couldn't be too sure. "I'm sure if Terry was being followed, someone would've found out where Malfoy and Liana are by now."

As Ron was about to say something, we turned the corner. Unfortunately, Professor Snape seemed to be waiting for us, his lips pursed together. "Oh my," he said. "I do believe that it's ten minutes after curfew, Mister Potter and Mister Weasley." He looked as if he was going to walk away. He made a face that I supposed was a smile and added, "Fifty points from Gryffindor." Then he simply turned on his heel and disappeared down the corridor.

Ron and I scowled at the same time. Ron's face grew pale as we walked back to the common room. "Do you reckon he heard us?"

I'd completely forgotten about the possibility that Snape might have heard what we'd said. And I'd been stupid enough to say their names out loud. I slapped my forehead, angry at myself. "I don't know. Let's sure hope not."

"Hermione will be furious," Ron said, grudgingly. He approached the Fat Lady. "Fizzing Whizbee," he said.

"Must you be so loud?" she hissed and swung open for us. I shrugged and followed Ron inside. Hermione walked up to us, with Ginny at her side.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" asked Ginny. I wasn't sure if the question was directed toward me or Ron. None of us had told Ginny about where our classmates were. I wasn't sure if we should. It wasn't that I didn't trust Ginny. It was just that it was bad enough that the three of us knew. And I could've possibly ruined everything if Snape had, indeed, heard what I'd said a few moments ago. "Well aren't you going to say something?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, just as Hermione was.

"I'm just tired," I lied. I couldn't possibly sleep, especially not with what had just happened.

"Hermione, could you help me with my Potions essay?" Ron said, changing the subject. Hermione nodded, but I could tell that she wasn't satisfied with my answer. I also knew that she wasn't going to push it. Not tonight, at least.

"I suppose," Hermione said, her eyes glued to me with concern. "This is the last time I'll help you."

"But I'll fail without you," I heard Ron saying as he walked off onto the other side of the common room.

Ginny was still standing in front of me, eyeing me with curiosity. I scratched my head. "Well, er, goodnight Ginny," I said and hurried away into my own dorm room. As soon as I'd gotten upstairs, I noticed the room was empty. When I heard footsteps coming up the staircase, I already knew that it was Ginny.

Before I knew it, she stood before me with her arms folded across her chest. "Did you really think I was going to buy that?" she asked.

"Well, I was hoping—" I started.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I wish I could," I said. "But I just can't. You have to understand."

I saw hurt flash in her eyes and she turned away from me. "I don't understand, Harry," she said. When she turned to face me, I saw a single tear run down her cheek. "I don't understand you at all. I told you how I felt about you and you pushed me away… Will you please tell me how you feel? I have to know that much, at least… Since you won't tell me what's on your mind."

I immediately regretted everything. A few weeks ago, she'd told me that she and Dean had broken up. She'd told me that she liked me and that she wanted us to be together. As much as I'd wanted to, I couldn't say the same. If we were together, that would be dangerous. He'd use her against me. For all I knew, Ginny could be the next one to go missing. I don't know what I'd do if Ginny was the next one to go. I stepped a little closer to her, but not too close. "I'm sorry," I said. "I feel the same way about you. I want to be with you too, but it's too dangerous. I don't want you in harm's way, Ginny. Please understand."

She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand. She nodded. "Okay," she said. "I understand." She leaned closer and closer to her until her lips met mine. She gave me a solemn smile when she pulled away. "Goodnight Harry," she said. She walked to the staircase, then looked back at me once more before making her way down the stairs.

* * *

**PANSY POV**

I'd received my Dark Mark. I was one of them now. And we were still trying to find answers as to where Draco was. So far, we were unsuccessful.

I sat next to Draco's parents at a long table in the Drawing Room of Malfoy Manor. I sort of felt bad for them. They didn't know where Draco was either. The Dark Lord had made sure of that using Legilimency.

"My Lord," said Snape as he walked through the door. "I've got a lead. I've sent Bellatrix to follow the owl that is supposedly his. If the owl is, indeed, his and if he comes quietly, she will bring him back here to you."

"And the girl?" the Dark Lord asked, his mouth forming a horrid smile on his snake-like face.

"Bellatrix will most likely kill her," Snape said. "Unless you wish otherwise."

I cleared my throat. Everyone turned to me. "May _I_ be the one to kill Liana Blake, My Lord?"

He smiled again. "I do not care what happens to the girl, as long as Draco is brought to me. You may do as you wish, Pansy." I smiled, eager to watch the life being knocked out of her as she hit the ground. Hopefully Draco would be nearby so that I could witness his reaction. He'd be sorry all right.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

I woke up to the smell of eggs downstairs. I rubbed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. I yawned and got out of bed, following the scent in the air. "Good morning," I said, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Good morning," she said in return. She scooped eggs onto a plate with bacon and toast and handed it to me. I wasn't much of a cook. I'd tried to make pancakes and no matter how hard I tried, they always burned.

"Thank you," I said. I placed my plate on the table and got two glasses out of the cabinet, which I poured orange juice into. We both sat down, starting to eat. I heard a thump outside the kitchen window. I opened it and an owl peered its head into the house, newspaper in beak. I removed the paper from his beak and smiled gratefully before it flew away.

When I sat down, I frowned and put the paper on the table. Liana took my hand. "What's the matter?"

"Terry doesn't usually take this long to come back," I said carefully. "Do you think—?"

"He should be back soon," she assured me. "Let's give it another day."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Liana said, disappearing out of my view. I heard the door opened and kisses being exchanged, so I figured that it must be Jennifer. Sure enough, Jennifer came in the kitchen behind my love.

"Good morning," Jennifer said. She saw the newspaper on the table, turning her head to read. "Robert Blackwell dies in magical experiment," she read from the front page.

"Morning," I said, taking a bite out of my toast.

"What's going on this morning?" she asked. "Why do you look so distressed?"

"Terry hasn't been back," Liana said. "Draco's worried that they might be on to us." Jennifer looked startled, with a bewildered expression. She added, "I think we should give him another day. If he doesn't get back, then we should do something."

"What would we do?" I asked. "We could move to Canada or something… maybe."

"That's ridiculous," Jennifer said. "I'll set up a portkey. Can you arrange for it to take you to Europe?"

"Sure," I said. "Perhaps I could ask Mrs. Weasley if she'd let us come there." Liana disappeared and came back with paper and a pen.

"When you're ready," she said, giving me a weak smile.

I was tired of running, so tired. I didn't want to run anymore. But I had to. This was my life now. I was constantly on the run, trying to keep myself alive as well as the girl I love. I knew that they were coming for us, and soon. Terry was consistent. It took him no more than two days, every time. It's been three days. Something was wrong. But what?

* * *

**What do you guys think? This chapter isn't particularly interesting, but the next chapter will be! If you like this story, follow it so you are always kept up to par with updates. And if you have something to say, review. Don't be shy. Stay tuned for the next chapter :)**


	13. The Hunted

**DRACO POV**

I'd decided not to ask Mrs. Weasley about the portkey idea. The Weasleys and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, not after how I'd treated them all these years. Jennifer came up with an idea to send us to her grandparents' house, in Boston. Our broomsticks were there waiting for us, so that if disaster struck, we'd be prepared. The portkey was an old can of tomato soup in the middle of the backyard. The first place we'd go was Liana's

Hours had past. I was sure that something had happened to Terry on the way. Liana put her head on my shoulder as we watched a movie together. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You're so tense."

"I'm scared," I admitted. "I don't think that we should go upstairs. Someone's coming for us. I know it. And we have to be ready."

"Okay. We could sleep down here. I'll just get my wand," she said, getting up. I heard her go up the staircase. Outside, I saw a flash of green light and a thump to the ground. Oh no, I thought. Liana came back downstairs, wand in hand. I grabbed mine off of the coffee table, eyes widened in fear and anticipation.

"Someone is out there," I said carefully. She said something, but all I heard was a high pitched laugh that was all too familiar. Bellatrix Lestrange. The front door clicked and we stood face to face with my wicked aunt Bellatrix.

She laughed again as she entered the house, followed by her husband, Rodolphus. "There we are," she sang. "We've found them! We've found them!"

"Pity that you're owl isn't—wasn't—very bright," Rodolphus said. "It had no clue that it was being followed."

I raised my wand at him, not sure of what else to do. He pointed it at me in turn. "We mustn't kill him," my aunt hissed. "He must be saved for the Dark Lord!"

"And the girl?" her husband asked.

"He says we mustn't kill her either. There's been a special request one of the others to kill the girl," Bellatrix said with a crooked smile.

Who would want to kill Liana? What Death Eater would want her dead? None of them know her. Did they? And what did the Dark Lord want from me?

She continued. "Fallen in love with a Half-Blood, Draco? I surely thought I'd taught you better… about blood purity." Next to me, Liana scowled. Behind Bellatrix, Jennifer appeared. She put a hand over her mouth, signaling for us to keep quiet. She walked closer to me. "How pathetic. Just wait until your father hears about this one."

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Jennifer, disarming my aunt.

"How dare you! Who are you?" Bellatrix exclaimed.

"Jennifer Brooks," my friend said proudly. Then flashes of colorful lights came out of our wands as the five of us dueled. Furniture and knickknacks were being destroyed, but none of that mattered. We'd probably never be able to come back here, even if we managed to escape.

"Avada Kedavra!" Jennifer's eyes widened in shock as the spell hit her in the chest. Her body collapsed, hitting the hardwood floor. Her eyes were dead and her brown hair hung over her face like a lamp, covering her features.

I opened my mouth in disbelief. I wanted to kill my aunt and her husband too, just for being involved. But we had to get to the portkey, before it was too late.

I took Liana's hand and we both dashed out of the back door, dodging spells being sent hurling our way. I scanned the yard for the can and we both grabbed on to it. I smiled down at my aunt and her bewildered husband as we were swept away into another dimension.

Seconds later, we were thrown into the cold grass. We were supposed to be in Boston somewhere. Liana clung onto me, in tears. "Jennifer," was all she said. It hurt me too. She was the first person we'd met in America. One of the only people that knew our secret… We'd only know her for a few months, but a few months were good enough.

She was an innocent girl, dragged into the complications of my life. She was only trying to protect us, and she'd lost her own life because of it. I hated myself. If it wasn't for me, Jennifer wouldn't have died. If it wasn't for me, Liana wouldn't be in danger. If it wasn't for me, none of this would've ever happened.

Death Eaters were ruining my life. How would I live with this? Would I have to live my whole life running away? Would Voldemort ever be defeated? Would my misery _ever_ be put to an end?

I was glad that I had Liana. Without her, who knows where I'd be. I'd probably be dead. I wouldn't have been able to get through half the things I'd been through without her. I needed her in my life. I loved her so much and I think I'd die if I lost her. "It's going to be okay," I said, comforting my girlfriend, though I wasn't sure at all.

I turned around to face a house. I spotted broomsticks nearby. Jennifer had come here yesterday to set up everything we needed. "Come on," I said, grabbing Liana's hand. We ran toward the brooms and hopped on. It was about an eight hour flight to Hogwarts, but we surely couldn't go back there—it would draw too much attention and the Ministry would most likely be notified.

Our return to Europe had to be kept a secret. I had to see Harry, somehow. I had no idea how I'd pull it off. Our survival had only been luck. We were lucky that my aunt hadn't killed us both on the spot. She said that I was to be saved for Him, and someone else was to kill Liana. I couldn't let that happen. If I had to die, so be it. But I couldn't allow for Liana to die.

* * *

**PANSY POV**

Bellatrix and Rodolphus had returned. However, they returned without Draco and Liana. Voldemort was furious. "You let them escape?" he demanded.

"They took off by portkey," said Bellatrix.

"Where do you think they went, Bellatrix?" he asked impatiently.

"I—I don't know," she stammered. I'd never heard of Bellatrix Lestrange being afraid. Of all the things I'd previously heard about Death Eaters, she seemed the most ruthless.

"I'd kill you," he said, "but you're one of the only ones I can count on." He looked at Lucius, who had failed to retrieve the prophecy from the previous year. He'd narrowly escaped being put in Azkaban for it. The Dark Lord was not very pleased with him, so he recruited Draco to kill Dumbledore.

I never really liked Dumbledore much. He always seemed to favor the other Houses over Slytherin. And he was especially close to Harry Potter and his two idiot sidekicks. I wouldn't mind them dead either.

I wondered where Draco and Liana might be. Did they have connections in America? Where could they possibly go? They certainly wouldn't come back to Europe. That would be a stupid thing to do. That was pretty much a death sentence.

As soon as I got my hands on Liana Blake, I'd be satisfied. Then I'd finally get my revenge. It would be, oh, so sweet. I couldn't wait. I could almost taste the satisfaction on the tip of my tongue.

"My Lord," I said. "Why don't we just kill Dumbledore ourselves? Do we have to wait for Draco to come along?"

"Yes," he said. "Draco must be the one to kill him. And when he does, we'll go after the Potter boy and I shall kill him once and for all." He smiled—if that's what you could call it—and turned to whisper something to Snape.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

I was tired, hungry, and scared. Liana took my hand as she led me toward her grandparents' house. She decided that she couldn't face her father. Either that or she didn't want me to meet him. At the moment, I didn't care that much. I was exhausted.

We were in France, some place in the countryside. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly on the golden fields.

Liana rang the doorbell. Seconds later, an elderly woman came to the door. She stared at Liana in disbelief before hugging her. "I thought you'd died," said the woman, sobbing bitterly.

"I'm okay, grandma," she said. "I've always been okay." The woman let go of her and turned to look at me, who was standing directly behind her. "This is Draco, my boyfriend."

She looked at Liana suspiciously, but smiled at me. "Nice to meet you, Draco. I'm Augusta."

I shook her hand. "It's my pleasure," I said. Augusta told us to come inside. We sat down on the couch. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with tea and cream cheese sandwiches. We took the food gratefully, since we hadn't eaten anything for hours.

"Now," Augusta said, "tell me what's going on."

Liana sighed and looked at me. I nodded, deciding to start off the story myself. I told her that I was a Death Eater, what my mission was, and how Liana got dragged into it. I apologized for putting Liana in danger and for not being able to guarantee her safety. We told her everything, good and bad.

Augusta listened intently. Surprisingly, she didn't judge me. "So he's searching for you now?" she asked.

I nodded. "He's not going to stop until he finds me. If he finds me, he'll surely kill me after he gets what he wants from me. Then I reckon he'll have Liana killed as well, just because he knows that she's my weakness."

"Can he find you?" she asked.

"I'm sure he _can_, but he has no idea where to start looking. We could be anywhere," I said. I rolled my sleeve up to reveal my Dark Mark, which had begun to reveal itself once more. I showed her. "He can contact me through this, but he has no idea that we've returned to Europe, so I don't believe that he'll bother. Even if he does, I don't have to respond."

She ran her finger across it, fascinated almost. She turned to Liana, who took another bite of her sandwich. "Have you contacted your aunt and uncle? Do they know you're here?"

Liana shook her head. "No one knows but you. I trust you more than I trust them." She frowned. I knew that she missed her cousin, Isabella. But I didn't think it was such a good idea either, to trust Isabella with the secret. It might slip out by accident, and we couldn't risk that.

"Do you have an owl?" I asked Augusta. She nodded. "Can I use your owl to send a message in the morning?"

"Of course," she said. "You two look exhausted. Why don't you get some rest? The bedrooms are upstairs. Liana will show you the way."

With that, I took a final sip of tea and followed Liana out of the living room and up the stairs. She pulled me into a room with white furniture and pictures all over. I saw pictures of Liana as a baby and smiled. "I assume that this is your room," I said.

"You guessed correctly," she said.

I saw a picture of her dancing. "You like to dance?"

"I used to dance ballet," she said. "But I haven't danced since I left France. Not really."

I wrapped my arms around her. "I love you," I murmured into her hair.

"I love you too."


	14. Promise

**DRACO POV**

It was August. Ron and Harry insisted that Liana and I attend Bill and Fleur's wedding. But going as ourselves would draw too much attention, being that no one knew of our whereabouts except for a select few. So we were given Polyjuice Potion and for the wedding we'd be Marc and Michele Villiers, Fleur's distant cousins.

"You look rather handsome, _Marc_," said Liana.

"As do you, _Michele_," I said. I stuck my arm out. "Shall we?" She grabbed on to me and we Apparated to the Burrow. A red haired boy approached us. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"It's me," the boy said. "Harry."

Liana looked amused. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Cousin Barney," he replied. "Do I look like a Weasley?"

"Very much," I said. Mrs. Weasley walked toward us, yelling at the twins about flowers. She looked rather on edge.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," I said when she looked at me curiously. "It's Draco and Liana... Well Marc and Michele."

"Ah," she said, "You're just in time. We'll be starting in a few moments. And don't worry. There are protective charms everywhere. No one will have a clue. I'm just glad that the two of you are safe."

We thanked her and Liana walked away with Ron and Harry and into the tent. I turned to Mrs. Weasley, who smiled. "Mrs. Weasley?"

"Something bothering you, dear?" she asked, with genuine concern. No wonder everyone loved her. She was like a mother to everyone, no matter what the situation was. I had no doubt that my mother loved me, but it just wasn't the same.

"I just wanted to apologize to you and your family," I said. "I was horrible to all of you and I really am sorry."

She smiled at me again, even though I didn't deserve her kindness. I didn't deserve to be at the wedding at all. I hardly deserved Liana, but here I was. "That's quite all right. I accept your apologies," she said. "Now, why don't you go find your seat? I think Fleur is ready now." I nodded and went into the tent. Everyone was there. Dumbledore, too. I felt a pang of guilt, being that my task was—is—to kill him.

I pushed the thought out of my mind as I took my seat next to Liana. She laced her fingers in mine and the wedding began. Fleur looked absolutely divine in her white wedding gown as she walked down the aisle. I almost couldn't believe it. She was stunning! She always was, but she looked even better today—if that was even possible.

Less than an hour later, Bill kissed his bride. "Finally," said Liana. "I'm famished." Before we knew it, food was being served. We sat at a table with Luna, Harry, and Ron. Hermione was busy talking to Viktor Krum. I wondered what he was doing here and why Liana was staring at him like a piece of meat.

As we ate, I looked around the tent. Most had finished eating and were beginning to get up and dance. Loony and her father were dancing rather strangely, while everyone else seemed to be doing an Irish dance I'd never seen.

I finished the last of my food and noticed Ron sulking next to me. He mumbled something rude about Hermione dancing with Krum, but before I could comment, some random boy walked up to Liana. "Hi," he said in a slightly French accent. "My name is Alvin. Would you care to dance?"

I glared at him and stood. "She's with me," I said firmly.

Alvin backed up and looked at the ground, then at Liana. "I'm so sorry. I did not realize that you were with someone already. My apologies," he said before quickly walking off.

Liana, well Michele, rolled her eyes at me. "Did you _have_ to be so rude about it?" When I didn't answer, she abruptly got up and said, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to use to the lavatory."

"Bloody hell," Ron said as I watched her retreating figure. "They never appreciate when we try to protect them."

"Maybe some day, they'll thank us," I said, shrugging. Just a moment later, the lights went out. People whispered among themselves. I jumped when I felt Liana put her hand in mine. Why had the wedding stopped? Did something happen?

Suddenly a deep voice filled the room. "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." Everyone around me began to panic. Hermione and Harry appeared.

Hermione looked pale as ever. "Voldemort's taken over the Ministry," she said breathlessly. "We've got to get out of here." _Crack_. She looked up at me gravely. "Especially you… You're starting to look like Draco again. We've got to find Liana!"

I cursed. "She's in the bathrooms somewhere," I said. _Crack_. _Crack_. We ran as fast as we could out of the tent and toward the house. The tent was being filled with Death Eaters and people were trying to escape. I hoped that everyone was all right.

We spotted Liana walking leisurely through the grass, back toward the tent. I gestured for her to run. I grabbed her arm, then grabbed hold of Hermione.

We ended up in London, on Tottenham Court Road. The street was pretty much deserted. "Hey," Ron said. "Aren't we near the Leaky Cauldron?" I felt a bit uneasy after Disapparating, but I was steady on my feet.

She didn't answer him. "We've got to sort this out," she said. She looked around us. "In there," she said. I, along with the others, followed her into a diner. We squeezed into a booth. A waitress approached our table, smacking on a piece of gum or something.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked, clearly not enthusiastic about working here. Before anyone could open their mouths, Hermione ordered us all tea with milk and sugar.

"I don't like tea," complained Ron. Hermione gave him a death glare and we started talking.

"Why do you think the Death Eaters came tonight?" Liana asked.

"Well," Hermione said. "Voldemort might have been looking for Harry, or he could've been looking for Draco."

"Damn it," I said. "He knows that Harry and I are in touch. He probably thought we both might be here. Oh, I don't know."

"But how did he know about the wedding?"Harry asked.

"For all we know, Scrimgeour could've told, but I reckon we'll never know," Ron said, slumping back in the booth. The waitress returned with our tea. I stirred mine and took a small sip. As I did, two men that I recognized as Death Eaters entered. I gasped.

"Death Eaters," I said, gesturing to the men that had just walked in. They walked up to the counter, as if they were going to buy something. I took my wand out, as did my friends. Just as quickly, the Death Eaters sent spells hurling our way.

Harry and I sent body binding spells in their direction, hitting both Death Eaters in the chest. We hovered over their bodies. Ron mentioned their names, but I wasn't paying attention. I was stuck on the possibility that He might know that I was back in Europe. I was horrified.

"Obliviate," said Hermione, altering their memories. When she was finished, I asked her what the next step was. "You and Liana have got to get back to France. It's much safer there than it is in London."

"And what will you three be doing?" I asked, curious.

"We'll be hunting horcruxes," Harry answered for her. "Dumbledore won't be of much help this time. Ever since we got the first one, he's been very weak. It doesn't seem like he's recovered fully. The sooner we find and destroy all of them, the sooner we'll be able to put an end to Him once and for all."

"Okay," I said.

"Don't try to contact us yourselves," Harry added thoughtfully. "It's not a good idea. When we can, we'll send a message. When it's safer, we'll send for you." Liana and I nodded and Disapparated back to Augusta's home in France.

* * *

We ended up in the living room. Augusta and her husband, Pierre, were on the couch looking worried. "There you are!" Augusta exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. Seeing the grave looks on our faces, she asked what had happened at the wedding.

"Everything was fine," said Liana, "until a bunch of Death Eaters gatecrashed the party."

I gulped. "They've taken over the Ministry. I don't know if they were looking for Harry or for me… Maybe he knows that we're here. Thankfully, we were able to Disapparate. Somehow Death Eaters found us in a small diner. They attacked us, but we were able to bind their bodies and wipe their memories. Now, Harry and his friends have gone to search for horcruxes."

"A horcrux?" asked Pierre.

"It's sort of like an artifact… It can be anything, I think. They're the key to Voldemort's immortality. He sort of stores pieces of his soul in them. If all the horcruxes are destroyed, then Voldemort will finally be destroyed," I said.

"How long do you think it will take to find them?" Augusta asked.

Liana shook her head. "Who knows? They could be anywhere. I don't think anyone knows except for Him."

"Even I don't know. I was—am—a Death Eater and He hasn't told me anything."

Liana continued. "Harry told us that he'll find a way to contact us. But I don't know how long that will take. I mean, I don't even know if everyone from the wedding got out all right."

Augusta looked at us with concern. She didn't ask any more questions. "We should all get some sleep. You must be exhausted. We'll discuss it further in the morning. For now, I'm just glad that you're all right." I nodded and bid them good night. They disappeared from the living room and went to the back of the house, where their bedroom was.

Liana and I trudged up the staircase, clearly exhausted. I took a bath and changed into some pajamas. When I went to check on Liana, she was sitting at the edge of her bed. I saw a tear running down her cheek. I immediately rushed to her side. I sat next to her on the bed. "What's wrong?" I asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's just so overwhelming…everything that's going on," she said, wiping her stray tear with the back of her hand. She crawled under the sheets and laid her head on the pillows.

"We'll be okay," I said, stroking her hand. "This will all be over soon." I kissed her on the cheek and started to walk away to my own room. We hadn't slept in the same bed since we got here. I thought it was strange, being that her grandparents were just downstairs. I didn't want to ruin the relationship I had with them. I think Augusta liked me more than Pierre did, but Liana insisted that he never liked the idea of her having a boyfriend.

"Draco," she whispered from behind me. I turned around to face her, bundled up in pink sheets and blankets.

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked. Noticing my hesitation, she said, "Please? Please stay with me."

"Okay," I said, shutting the door just in case. I laid down next to her and held her body close to mine. I could feel her warmth. She turned over, my cool grey eyes meeting her piercing green ones. She smiled and she kissed me. After a moment of kissing, she started fumbling with the buttons on my shirt. "What are you doing?" I asked, breaking our kiss.

"I want to," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said, taking my shirt off. She bent down to kiss me again, brushing her fingers across my chest. "I'm sure."

After a few moments of kissing and fumbling with clothes, our bodies came together as one. I took her innocence, though mine had already been lost to a girl that I never loved. But this? It was perfect.

My body collapsed next to hers. She turned to me and brushed her lips against mine. "Promise me you'll never leave me," she said, placing her hands on my bare chest.

"I won't," I said. "Never." Then she closed her eyes, drifting off into an endless realm of dreams. "I love you," I said, but she was already fast asleep.

* * *

**Chapter 14 complete! How do you like it? Review! Review! Review! How else am I supposed to know that you guys are enjoying the story? And don't forget to follow, so you'll know when I update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	15. Love isn't Enough

**LIANA POV**

It was Christmas Eve. Harry hadn't contacted us yet. The worried feeling had pretty much gone away after the first three weeks or so. There was still worry every now and then, but it was something that Draco and I had to get used to.

Our relationship was wonderful. He made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I couldn't wait until this war was over and Voldemort's reign of terror was put to an end. After that, we could spend the rest of our lives together without worry and fear.

I took the chicken out of the oven so that it could cool. The cauldron cake would be done soon too. Draco had made them. He was a terrible chef, but he was actually good at baking. The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," I sang, skipping to the door like a little girl. I figured that it was my grandparents coming back home. I found it strange since they did, indeed, have a key. I shrugged.

My heart fell when I opened the door. It was my cousin, Bella, as well as my aunt and uncle and Blaise? Isabella pulled me into a hug and immediately started crying. "I thought you were dead, Liana! How could you do this to us? You haven't even bothered to send me an owl! It's been a year! A whole year! Are you mad?" she shouted, getting angry. As my aunt and uncle hugged me, Draco appeared in the room in one of his suits.

He stood at the bottom of the steps, in shock. "Blaise? What are you doing here?"

He didn't look very happy to see me. He looked like he wanted to attack me, actually. "When were you going to tell me? Were you ever going to tell me? That morning I looked over to your bed and you were gone. Then I found out that both you and Liana had disappeared. Pansy's disappeared too. No one's seen or heard from her in months. I thought that she might've been, in some way, connected with your disappearances."

"Pansy's missing?" I asked. I couldn't stand her, but where had she gone? We hadn't seen her since we left Hogwarts a year ago. "Where could she have gone?"

"I dunno," said Bella. "There have been rumors about what's happened. People think Voldemort's got her. Other's think that one of the teachers is an undercover Death Eater and that they were able to get her out unnoticed. It's also a possibility that she's dead. One of the third years think that she drowned herself in the lake or pitched herself off of the Astronomy Tower."

"Is there anything else?" I asked.

"Dumbledore is sick, very sick. No one seems to know why. He was fine a few months ago. Maybe he's just getting old. Snape's taken over as headmaster. It's horrible. Muggle-borns can no longer attend," said Blaise. "The Carrows are the worst. They treat Seamus the worst."

"How is he?" I asked, genuinely concerned. I hadn't thought about Seamus in a long time. Even though we weren't together, I didn't want to see him hurt. I saw Draco frown from the bottom of the steps; he hadn't bothered to move. He could be so jealous sometimes. It's not like I planned on getting back together with Seamus.

"To be honest, I've never seen him such a mess. He's dying inside because he loves you and thinks that you're dead. He feels like he has no one, especially since Dean is gone," she said.

"I feel horrible," I said, as my grandparents opened the door.

My aunt's face turned red as she turned to face her parents. "How could you do this to me, Mother? All the times you've written me, you hadn't bothered to say that Liana and the boy were hiding out here! How could you keep a secret this big from us? You know that we've all been worried sick! And do you have _any_ idea what her father has done? Do you have _any_ idea at all? He's killed himself, Mother! He drank himself to death because his _only_ daughter, his _only_ child, disappeared from the face of the Earth without a trace!"

My heart dropped. My father was . . . dead? He killed himself . . . because of me. It was my fault. I'd caused all of this. Bitter tears started falling from my eyes. "It's not their fault," I shouted. "It's mine! It's all my fault!" I took off and ran up the staircase, past Draco and slammed my room door shut. I heard my family continue to argue downstairs. It was like a warzone down there. I didn't want to go back.

No one pursued me. I knew that it was because Draco knew that I needed some time to cool down. Half an hour later, I heard a knock on the door. "Go away!" I yelled.

"Just let me talk to you," Draco said calmly from the other side of the door. I got up to open the door for him. He looked at me up in down, not in a suggestive way but in a concerned one. "Are you feeling better?"

"No," I said honestly. "My father is _dead_ because I fell in love with a Death Eater! He'd be alive if I'd never met you at all!"

Draco looked hurt. I didn't regret what I'd said. I was too angry to care about anyone else's feelings. "You don't mean that," he said quietly, almost in a whisper.

"No, Draco," I said coldly. "I do. Ever since I met you, _my_ life has been a mess. I would've been better off if I'd stayed with Seamus."

Draco's face twisted into a scowl, possibly as angry as I was. "So you'd rather be with him, knowing that he could cheat on you at any time, than be with me? I have _never_ cheated on you. Ever. I would never hurt you intentionally. I never have. I've always put you first no matter what. I've protected you. I've done _nothing_ but love you for the past year!"

"Sometimes love isn't enough," I said softly, looking down at my red fingernails. Draco said nothing for several minutes. I turned to him, his face stained with tears that had fallen silently. "I don't want to see you anymore. I think that you should leave."

He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and turned red. "Fine," he spat. "If that's how you want it, then so be it." He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. I curled up into a ball and cried.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

I'd never been so hurt in my life. I felt empty and lonely. Liana had never acted so coldly toward me. I loved her with all my heart and she'd ripped it out of my chest and tore it in two. When I got into my room, I shut the door. Then the tears came again, defying my attempts not to cry.

I got my trunk and shoved all of my belongings in it. I took the ring out of my pocket. I'd planned on proposing to her, but I supposed that the chances of that happening were slim to one. The very thought made me cry even harder. I furiously threw it into my trunk and clicked it shut.

I scribbled a note on the piece of paper and slipped it into the bottom of the box. I quickly wrapped Liana's present, using my wand and placed it outside her door. She didn't deserve my kindness, not after how she'd treated me. But it was something that she could remember me by. That, and all of the things I'd ever bought her.

I made my way downstairs, carrying my trunk after I'd found a way to stop crying. Liana's whole family was still downstairs, as well as Blaise. Augusta appeared from the dining room. "Draco, the cauldron cakes were splendid and—" She paused, noticing my trunk. "Where are you going?"

"It's not necessary for me to stay here anymore," I said. "I've caused your family enough trouble already."

"Trouble? No, no, no. You can stay as long as you like. You're not a burden," she said.

"Liana's asked me to leave. I respect her wishes. It was nice to get to know you, Augusta," I said, giving her a hug. "Tell Pierre I said good-bye. I don't want to cause a scene."

"Okay," she said, looking as if she was about to cry herself. She gave me a solemn smile before she let me out. I started walking away from Devereaux Manor and onto the dirt road. I had no idea where I was going, but I didn't care. I just had to get away. Blaise came running after me.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. He shivered. He'd run out of the house without putting a coat on.

"Dunno," I said. "Anywhere but here."

"Augusta told us everything," he said. "About you being a Death Eater and escaping to protect Liana. I'm really sorry."

I nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"A lot has happened since you left. Tracey and I broke up. Bella and I have been together for eight months now. She asked me to come today."

I smiled, for the first time in hours. "Interesting."

"Please," he said. "You can stay with me. My mother can keep a secret."

"No," I said firmly. "I've put enough people in danger as it is. I'll be fine. Trust me. I'll send you an owl soon. I promise."

* * *

After a while, I decided that I had nowhere to go. I couldn't possibly go back to the Manor. I had no place to call home. Death Eaters were probably watching the house in Salem. He couldn't go back there either. Besides, Salem reminded him of Jennifer. He was already hurting. He didn't need to add on to that hurt.

It seemed as though I had no choice but to go to Mrs. Weasley. She'd know what to do. He Apparated to the Burrow, landing near the front door. He knocked and Ginny answered. "Malfoy?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. She shook her head and opened the door wide. "Come in."

Mrs. Weasley rushed to the scene. She smiled when she saw me, pulling me into a warm hug. She frowned when she noticed my blank face. "What's happened dear? Is Liana okay?"

"Liana's fine," I said. I hesitated to tell her what else had happened. She told me to have a seat in the living room with the rest of the family. The Weasley twins, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur were waiting, concern plastered on all of their faces.

"Is Harry okay?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure. He hasn't contacted me yet," I said. "Liana's family knows that we're alive. They showed up at the house unexpectedly. There was a huge argument . . ." I told them my gloomy story.

"I'm sorry," each of them had said to me.

"I wish that you could stay here," said Mrs. Weasley. "But they're watching the Burrow." I frowned. Where was I going to go now?

Fred and George looked at each other, then to their mother. "He can stay with us in our flat, mum. Hardly anyone comes to Diagon Alley to cause trouble, unless it's in the form of a prank," Fred or George suggested. I was never able to tell them apart.

"Well, I suppose," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked them.

"Sure," a twin said. "You can help us out with the shop, from upstairs of course. We've got to keep you tucked away."

My stomach grumbled. I hadn't eaten anything. "Hungry, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Come on now, Draco. I'll fix your supper."

* * *

**LIANA POV**

I woke up in the dark. How long had I been asleep? I got up and opened my door to find a rectangular box, wrapped in red paper. I took it in my room, sat on the bed and opened it. It was a pale pink colored dress. It was long and flowing with a slit at the side. It was decorated with sequins at the waist. It was the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. It must've been so expensive.

The bottom of the box had a card. I picked it up and read it: Merry Christmas, Draco. I felt horrible. Despite all of the horrible things I'd said to him, he still made sure I got my present. I got up and walked down the hallway to his room, but he wasn't there. The bed was made up and there was nothing in the room that belonged to Draco. Not a hat, not a bottle of cologne, nothing.

I looked in the drawers to find all of his clothes gone. I'd told him to leave, but I didn't think he'd actually leave. He'd broken his promise. I know that I was the one who told him to leave, but I still felt sad.

Our last memory was an argument, our breakup. I was the cause of it all. I was to blame. I'd made him cry. I'd pushed him away. I'd broken his heart. He didn't deserve any of that.

I ran downstairs, hoping that Draco was still in the house. Grandmother sat in the dining room, drinking a glass of water with Bella. Everyone else had left, apparently. They both turned to me, disappointed looks on their faces. "Draco is gone," said Grandmother. "He left hours ago. I don't know where he went."

Isabella turned to me, glaring daggers. "How could you be so cold?"

I said nothing. She was right. I was cold. I was a horrible person. Draco would never forgive me. Not for breaking his heart. I'd actually watched it break, right before my own eyes. And I did nothing.

* * *

**Noooo! This actually broke my heart, but it was necessary for Draco and Liana to split up eventually. Will Liana attempt to find Draco? Are Harry and the others getting along? Will the Dark Lord learn of Draco's whereabouts? And most importantly, how much longer will everyone have to suffer? Anyways, I hoped that you've enjoyed the chapter. And I will update soon :)**


	16. Lost Hope

**LIANA POV**

Weeks had gone by, turning to months. It was mid-March. I still hadn't heard from Harry or the others. I was beginning to worry that they were no longer alive.

I had no idea where Draco was. He hadn't come looking for me either. I didn't blame him. I'd been so cruel to him. I hated myself for it. I didn't even know if he was safe.

I'd said that I'd go looking for him myself but every time I decided to, I talked myself out of it. This was the last straw. I had to see him. I had to apologize. I wasn't expecting for him to take me back or anything, but a huge weight would be lifted off my shoulders if I told him that I was sorry. It wouldn't change things.

I missed him terribly. There was no one to run their fingers through my hair until I fell asleep. No one to hold me close. No one to confess their love for me. I'd taken him for granted and managed to ruin everything. Not being with Draco hurt more than anything, and I was the cause of it all. I broke up with him. I broke his heart. I sent him away. It was entirely my fault.

I was depressed. There was no doubt about it. I was tired of being sad. The family owl tapped on my window with her beak. I opened it and took the letter from her mouth. I patted her gratefully and she waited for me to read.

_Liana and Draco, _

_We've managed to destroy one of the horcruxes. We have to find the other three before it's too late. I hope that you two are okay. _

I was far from being "okay." And it was a shame that Harry had no idea that Draco and I had broken up or that we were no longer living under the same roof. I'd had enough. I had to see him this very moment. I shoved some clothes, the letter, a photograph of Draco, and money into a bag, slipped my wand into my pocket and went downstairs. It was the middle of the night, but I didn't care. I swiftly wrote a note to my grandparents explaining that I was going to find Draco, then walked out of the house, closing the door behind me.

Before I began my journey, I decided that there was one more thing that I wanted to see. I Apparated to England. I ended up on a very familiar street in London. I kept walking until I found the house that I'd grown up in. The memories I'd had in this house were fresh in my mind and they'd stay with me forever.

The house looked much shabbier than I remembered it. The grey brick was cracked in some places and the windows had been boarded up. Muggles couldn't even see it. I wondered if there was anything left inside, so I approached the door and pushed it open.

The air smelled stale. No one had been here in months. The parlor was the way I remembered it, the shelf above the fireplace still had pictures of me riding my toy broomstick, taking a bath, and of me reading a book upside down as a little girl. Tears started falling down my face as I looked around the room. The floor was littered with bottles of firewhiskey. It killed me to know that he drank until he could drink no more.

I went into the room that my parents once shared. The bed was unmade and he kept a picture of my mother, Ophelia, on the nightstand. She was smiling at the camera, holding my hand. We both smiled and waved at the camera. I remembered that day. My mother had taken me to my first ballet recital. That was when I immediately fell in love with the dance.

I left my parents' room and went to mine. The door was closed. It must've been too painful for him to look inside knowing that I might never be in the room again. I opened the door slowly. It was exactly the way I remembered it. I sat on my bed. I hadn't sat on it in years. I felt like a little girl again. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling a little better. I took a bath and put on some fresh clothes. Then I left the house to begin my search for Draco. Where would he go? I decided that perhaps Mrs. Weasley could help me figure it out. I hoped that Draco was staying with her or that she at least knew of his whereabouts.

After Apparating to the Burrow, I found myself far away from the house. I sighed and started walking, hoping that Draco was nearby. As I got even closer to the house, I was suddenly grabbed by an unknown force. I found myself hurling through the air, flying. I let out a blood curdling scream, unable to comprehend what was happening. "Did you miss me?" a familiar voice asked. I looked up to find myself face to face with none other than Pansy Parkinson.

* * *

**MRS. WEASLEY POV**

I was in the middle of eating breakfast when Arthur and I heard the scream. Startled, Arthur and I looked out of the window but found nothing. I heard nothing but the howling of the cold air. Arthur and I went outside to investigate. I knew that the house was being watched, which was why Draco couldn't stay here. Voldemort would've found him and snatched him up in no time.

Arthur searched the grounds, but didn't find the source of the scream. As he walked back into the house, I noticed a knapsack that was at the edge of the lake. I sauntered over and picked it up. I looked around me, but there wasn't anything, or anyone, in sight.

I took the bag inside and sat it on the table. "I've found a bag. It's not Ginny's," I said. "Someone was on our land and must've dropped it. Let's have a look." I opened the bag and poured its contents onto the table. There was nothing but clothes. A girl's clothes. "Doesn't look like anything important."

Arthur seemed to have noticed something that I didn't. "Wait," he said, pulling a piece of parchment from underneath the pile of clothes. He read it and handed it to me. Then he pulled out a photograph from underneath the pile as well. Arthur showed it to me. It was of Draco. He was smiling and mouthing "I love you."

"Oh dear," my husband said.

"It must've been Liana," I said. "I've got to go tell Draco!" I quickly put everything back into the bag and Apparated to Diagon Alley.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

Living with the twins was actually fun. We constantly pulled pranks on one another. I, however, wasn't very good at pulling pranks, but I still had my fun.

I'd been helping calculate finances while the twins worked in the shop downstairs. I got my share, of course, for helping them out. It was less work that they had to do. And quite frankly, they were better at selling things than calculating them.

It was sort of overbearing, living here. In a way, I was trapped. Of course, it was all for my own good. I missed being able to pretty much roam around freely back in France, but I'd never be able to go back to that.

It hurt to know that Liana hated me. She'd made herself clear on Christmas Eve. Why else wouldn't she try to find some way to get in contact with me? She believed that her life would've been better if she hadn't met and fallen in love with me. In a way, it was probably true but I never expected for her to actually say those words aloud.

Not a day went by that I didn't miss her. I thought about her all of the time. I thought about her any time that I was alone. Those thoughts reminded me of how lonely I was and how much my heart ached to be with her.

My life had no purpose. I had no hope. I'd abandoned the idea that Liana would come looking for me weeks ago. It was obvious that she didn't care. She didn't love me anymore. I'd actually considered going back to the Manor so that Voldemort, or at least some other Death Eater, could kill me. But before I did, I wanted to see Liana one last time.

An internal battle started in my mind. A voice inside my head was telling me to go back to France and at least get her to talk to me. The opposing voice told me that it was the worst thing I could possibly do. What if she'd moved on? What if she had another man at the house? What if she rejected me? Told me she hates me? I wouldn't know what to do then.

_Crack_. The battle within myself had come to an abrupt end when Mrs. Weasley appeared in the parlor. Fred and George appeared from the kitchen. Fred, gripping the _Daily Prophet_, and George holding onto his coffee mug. She looked distressed.

"Mum?" asked Fred.

"What are you doing here so early?" asked George.

"Something terrible has happened," she said. She held up a bag that I immediately recognized as Liana's. My eyes widened in fear. Why did she have Liana's bag. My heart dropped. Had something happened to her? Was she alive? I wouldn't be able to bear it if she was dead. I couldn't imagine it, especially since we hadn't made up.

She handed the bag to me. I immediately took everything out, dumping all of the clothes on the floor. I found a letter from Harry. Relief washed over me. Thankfully, they were getting along fine and finding the horcruxes. I picked up the photo of me. I remembered that day as if it were yesterday. She took that photo of me in Salem, a few weeks after we'd moved into the house. I watched myself as I mouthed those three words to her. _I love you_. I felt tears falling and there was nothing I could do to stop them from falling.

Then panic began to pulse through my veins. I couldn't handle this. Mrs. Weasley frowned. "At breakfast, Arthur and I heard a scream coming from outside. When we went to see what had happened, there was no one in sight. I think that it may have been Liana. That's the only reasonable explanation. Whoever it was that took her must've been watching the house. I think that she may have been looking for you, Draco. Do you have any idea where they might have taken her?"

I stopped crying. "I think that I might have an idea," I said, ruddy faced. "Whoever it was that took her was a Death Eater. No doubt about that. The Death Eaters have their meetings at the Manor. She _must_ be there! They used to keep prisoners in the cellar when I attended the meetings."

"We've got to get her back," she said, hysterical at this point. She wiped away a stray tear.

"I'm going to get her back. I'll go to the Manor now," I said. I flinched as I felt Him calling me. I looked up gravely. "He's calling me."

"You can't go by yourself!" said Fred and George, in unison.

"It's too dangerous!" said George.

"It's mad, that is!" said Fred.

"I have to," I said. "I've already given your family enough trouble. Please don't pursue me." Before anyone could protest, I was already gone.

* * *

I ended up outside Malfoy Manor. It'd been over a year since I'd seen the house. It felt strange being here. I wondered what was going on inside. I was positive that Voldemort wouldn't be very pleased to see me. I wondered if he expected me to respond to his call. Probably not.

I opened the front door to the Manor. I had one intention and one intention only: rescue Liana. It wouldn't be easy and I had no idea how I'd pull it off, but I had to give it a go. I slowly walked into the drawing room, where a few Death Eaters sat.

Voldemort turned to face me and . . . smiled? "Draco," he said. "How nice of you to join us."

"Welcome back," said a very familiar voice. Pansy turned around in her seat, smiling some deranged and deadly smile. She looked different. She was no longer the Pansy I remembered.

"You," I said, frozen in shock.

"How's Liana?" she asked, laughing. Angered, I drew my wand. Within seconds, our wands were at each other's necks.

"Enough bickering," Voldemort said. "I've got business to attend to. I'll be back in a few hours. Put him in the cellar." With that, he vanished.

I noticed my parents sitting at the table. My mother stared at me as if she hadn't seen me in years. I could tell that she wanted to get up and hug me tightly, but she couldn't. She felt sorry for me because there wasn't anything that she could do. She was powerless in the situation.

Before I was taken to the Cellar, Snatchers appeared in the room with my three friends although something appeared to be wrong with Harry's eye. Bellatrix forced him into a chair. "Draco, come here," she snapped. I walked over to her side of the room. "Is this Harry Potter?"

I looked at him intently, appearing to be concentrating. "I dunno," I lied. "It could just be an imposter using Polyjuice potion pretending to be Harry. I don't think Harry would've gotten himself caught without some sort of plan."

My aunt glared at me. I could tell that she didn't believe a word I'd just said. "Are you protecting him?"

"No," I lied again. "But you should never underestimate the enemy."

She looked at me for a long time. She seemed to consider it. "Take them to the cellar," my aunt said. "Leave the girl." Harry, Ron, and I were grabbed and put into the cellar. The door was locked and we were trapped. They'd also taken our wands. I'd never felt so powerless. Would we be trapped down here forever? Would I ever find a way out of here?

When I turned around, I saw Liana looking at me. I hadn't mentally prepared myself for actually meeting Liana again. What should I say? Should I yell at her? Should I hug her? I didn't know. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "I'm glad you're safe," I said quietly. Then I started off toward a corner, away from Luna, Dean, Ollivander, Harry, and Ron.

I sat on the dirt floor, leaning against the wall. I covered my face with my hands. Just a moment later, I heard someone sit down next time. I didn't have to open my eyes to know who it was. I refused to look at her. Looking at her might cause me to break down and I couldn't afford to do that right now. "What happened?" I asked. There was a short silence, followed by Hermione's screams coming from the floor above us.

"I was looking for you. I figured that Mrs. Weasley could help me find you. As I got closer to the house, Pansy took me. I don't remember anything else. I just remember waking up here," she said.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Okay," I said. I had nothing to say to her. I was angry. Why had it taken her so long to come looking for me? I wanted to demand answers, but I wasn't quite ready to have another conversation with her.

"Please," she said. "Look at me." With a huge sigh, I did as she asked. My eyes met hers. I could see the emotion building up in her emerald eyes. "I know that I was wrong that night. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I was upset and hurt, so I took it out on you. I'm so sorry for hurting you. I'm not asking you to forgive me. I just wanted to let you know."

I'd already forgiven her, but I didn't let her know that. I was still upset. "I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this. Really, I am."

She nodded, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I never stopped thinking about you once."

"So why did it take you so long to come and find me?"

"After you left, I'd fallen into depression. I didn't leave the house at all. I couldn't bring myself to. I wanted to go after you, but I assumed that you hated me."

"I could never hate you," I said truthfully. I gave her a faint smile. "You broke my heart, but that doesn't change the fact that I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "I never stopped." She hugged me. It was the first time that we'd had any type of contact in months. I held her tightly.

"I've missed you so much," I murmured into her hair. I didn't let her go for a long time. Our embrace was interrupted by Ron.

"As much as we'd love to watch you two hug, we've found a way out," he said.

"How?" I asked, dumbfounded. My former house elf, Dobby, appeared from behind Harry's leg.

"Dobby?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to rescue you," he said in his squeaky voice.

* * *

**This is horrible! This chapter was sad for me too, but somehow I'll get through this. Is it strange that I'm just writing off of my imagination? I never had an actual plan for this story. Surprisingly, most things I've written weren't originally going to be in the story. Anyway, what do you think? Review! Review! Review! And don't forget to follow so you know when I update!**


	17. Indecision

**DRACO POV**

I was overjoyed when I saw Liana. After all, I hadn't seen her in months, not since Christmas Eve. I admit that that was probably one of the worst days of my life. It was the day that I thought I lost Liana's love forever. The months I spent without her wracked my heart with pain. I thought I'd never be with her again. Maybe it was true. It's not like we were back together or anything.

Now Dobby stood before us, saying that he was going to get us the bloody hell out of here. "Dobby," said Harry. "Take Griphook, Dean, Luna, Liana, and Ollivander out of here… Take them to Shell Cottage. We've got to get Hermione."

"What?" exclaimed Liana. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"Yes," I said, "you are. We're going to get Hermione from Bellatrix. I'll see if I can get everyone's wands back."

"But—" she started. I shook my head in disapproval. She sighed.

Dobby took her hand, as well as the others. "You are safe with Dobby, Miss Blake," Dobby said. Then he addressed Harry, Ron, and I. "Meet me at the top of the steps in ten seconds." She gave a faint smile and looked at me before the familiar _Crack_.

I heard my aunt yelling from upstairs. "Did you take this from my—" The yelling stopped, but I could still hear Hermione whimpering from above. "What was that? Peter, go check! Go with him, Pansy."

"What do we do?" Ron whispered.

"I reckon we'll just have to wing it," I said. Harry nodded.

"Let's try to disarm both of them," said Harry.

"Step back!" said Pettigrew. We did as he said. Pettigrew, as well as Pansy, entered the cellar.

"Where are the others?" Pansy demanded. "What have you done?" No one said anything. Pettigrew grabbed Harry since he was nearest and began to choke him. I heard Harry say something to him, but I wasn't able to hear. I noticed that Pettigrew loosened his grip on Harry. Suddenly, the hand that Voldemort had fashioned him wrapped itself around his own neck.

Pansy looked startled as Pettigrew collapsed to his knees in an attempt to pry the fingers off. "What did you do?" She and, surprisingly, Harry tried to prevent his death. Before we knew it, it was too late. The hand had fatally strangled its owner. I wondered why, but there was no time for questions. We had to get out. The faster we got out, the faster I'd be reunited with Liana.

Pansy got up from Pettigrew's side. "You've killed him!" Harry ignored her. She turned to me. "You'll all pay," she said. She stepped closer and closer to me; we were nearly touching noses. "_Especially_ you." She glared at me when she noticed how uncomfortable I was. Then her face softened. "Just like old times, eh?" She began to lean in before she collapsed to the cold ground.

Harry smiled, showing me Pettigrew's wand. I looked down at Pansy whose body was bound by a hex. I quickly snatched her wand. Just then, Harry gasped in pain. He was holding his head. "What's wrong?" I asked, coming over to where he and Ron were standing.

"My scar," Harry said. "They've called him. He's coming, right now. And he's not happy."

"Hurry," said Ron. "We need to get out of here before He does." Ron, Harry, and I ran up the staircase leading upstairs. We entered the drawing room. "Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted, disarming Bellatrix. She let Hermione go. Hermione ran over to Ron before anyone could get a chance to grab her. Harry caught my aunt's wand and disarmed my obviously startled father.

Before anything else could be done, He and Snape appeared in the room with a very weak Dumbledore. My former headmaster didn't look like himself. His hair was unkempt and his skin ghastly pale.

Anxiety coursed through my body. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I'd bet my wand that Dumbledore wouldn't die of natural causes. And I also had a strong feeling that Voldemort would use me to his full advantage. I gulped, fearful of what would become of us all.

Voldemort smiled… if you could call it that. He sat Dumbledore down into a chair. "What's the meaning of this? Why have you summoned me? Is it because you have you allowed them to escape the cellar? And where is Pettigrew, as well as Parkinson?"

Bellatrix opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. "Well?" asked Voldemort, getting impatient.

"Pettigrew is dead," said Harry bravely. "The hand you fashioned him strangled him. And Pansy won't be joining us for a while."

"Never mind them," Voldemort said. "I have something for Draco to do." He turned to me, waiting. I looked at my friends. I couldn't read their expressions. Everyone stared at me. My mother's eyes told me to step forward, so I did. It's not like I had much of a choice. "Kill him."

"What?" I stammered.

"Kill Dumbledore," he repeated, "if you want to restore your family's honor." The internal battle started up again inside me. Was it worth it? Would it mean that my family and I would be safe? Harry would never forgive me. Neither would Ron and Hermione. What would Liana think? She'd probably grow to resent me. I didn't know what to do.

"Go on, Draco," said my father. I raised Pansy's wand, pointing it at Dumbledore. It didn't seem to bother him. He just looked up at me with watery eyes.

I stepped a little closer. "Expelliarmus!" I yelled, disarming him.

Dumbledore smiled. "Very good," he said. It was almost as if he was mocking me, but I didn't care. There was no way in hell that I could kill him. It just wasn't in me. Bellatrix snatched the wand from my grasp.

"Go on, Draco! _NOW_!" Bellatrix shouted, anxious for me to fulfill my deed.

I raised my wand a little higher. Dumbledore looked up at me with watery eyes. "Draco," he said. "Years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. I can help you."

I thought about his offer. Could he really help me? Could I get out alive, with my friends? Would I see Liana again? Tears full of indecision rolled down my cheeks. I was torn. Part of me _wanted_ to do it. But the other part of me wouldn't allow it. "I don't want your help. I _have_ to do this! I _have_ to kill you," I said, wand shaking in my hand, "or he's gonna kill me."

"No." Snape stepped forward, looking grave.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, "please."

Looking regretful, he said softly, "Avada Kedavra." Professor Dumbledore fell out of the chair onto the floor. I looked back at Harry. He was too busy looking back and forth between Dumbledore's now lifeless body on the floor and our former Potions professor. Voldemort began laughing sinisterly. He turned to me.

"I knew that you couldn't do it," he said, humored. "Just like your father… a _coward_! And now you shall pay the price." I heard a sort squeaking sound coming from above me. When I looked up, I saw Dobby unscrewing the chandelier. No one else seemed to notice. "Avada Keda—"

Before he could finish me off the chandelier crashed down to the ground, throwing everyone off. Harry dashed for the Sword of Gryffindor before the four of us grabbed onto Dobby. Just before we made it to our destination, I saw Pansy and a knife being hurled in our direction.

I landed face first into sand. "Ouch," I muttered to myself. I stood up and brushed the sand off of my suit. I looked around me. I was standing on a beach. I could smell the saltwater. Then I realized that I'd gotten separated from the others. "Harry? Ron?" I called. "Hermione?"

I ran over to them after I saw Ron waving me over. "Harry… Potter," croaked Dobby. The knife that Pansy threw had gotten him. His breathing ceased and his eyes closed. Fleur and Bill appeared from behind us.

"'Arry," said Fleur. "What 'as happened?"

"Where's Hermione?" asked Ron, not bothering to contribute in answering her question. "Is she all right?"

Bill nodded. "She's fine," he said. "She just needs some rest."

"And Liana?" I asked.

"She's with Luna," he replied. "I think that everyone should eat something and get some rest." Relief washed over me. Liana and the others had gotten here safely. I started toward the house after Fleur and Bill, after Harry had muttered something about burying Dobby.

I spotted Liana and Luna eating toast with jam in the kitchen. Liana immediately dropped her toast and hurried over to me so that she could hug me. Despite what we'd been through that morning, she still smelled of apples. "You're safe," she whispered.

I nodded and looked into her piercing green eyes. "For now," I said. "I need to talk to you, in private."

"Come," she said, taking my hand. "There are a few bedrooms upstairs. We can talk there." I followed her up the narrow staircase and around the corner into a spare bedroom. "What happened after Dobby brought us here?"

"Pettigrew came to check on us. I reckon he heard Dobby Disapparate. For some reason, that silver hand strangled him. Then Harry bound Pansy's arms and legs together. We took their wands and went upstairs. Ron disarmed Bellatrix and then He appeared in the room with Snape and Dumbledore," I explained. I took a deep breath. "He wanted me to kill Dumbledore… I actually considered doing it, but I couldn't, so Snape did… He laughed at me. He was going to kill me, but Dobby stopped him. We managed to get out before anyone got hurt, or worse. But now Dobby's dead. Pansy threw a knife. Harry's out there burying him now. He said that he wants to be alone."

Liana said nothing. She wrapped her arms around me and held me. It felt good. We'd hardly had any contact in months. It made me realize how miserable I'd been without her. "It's going to be okay. We're safe here. Bill said that Griphook, and Dean are going to Aunt Muriel's. Luna will be returning to Hogwarts in a few days. And Ollivander has agreed to make us some new wands, after he regains some of his strength back," she said. "And Snape killed Dumbledore?"

"Yes," I said. "It was almost as if Dumbledore _wanted_ him to do it. Snape agreed to protect me, so I suppose that he's done his part."

"I can't believe it," she said. "Dumbledore is gone… Thank Merlin you're all right."

"I wonder if he's going to kill my parents," I whispered. Tears started to come again. I wished that I hadn't started to break down in front of her. It made me feel weak. It amazed me how much I'd changed over the past year or so. After an awkward silence, she said, "Come downstairs. You should eat something."

* * *

**I didn't really like this chapter much, but it had to be done at some point... The Battle of Hogwarts is coming up in a few chapters. Maybe sooner. Depends on where my imagination takes me. Just bear with me :)**


	18. Whatever It Takes

**DRACO POV**

Almost three weeks had passed since we arrived at Shell Cottage. I liked it here. There were so many of us and it was rather crowded, but it felt like home. Harry, Ron, Dean, and I slept in the parlor, on the floor and on the sofas. Liana and Hermione were upstairs with Luna. The goblin and Mr. Ollivander were in the other spare room.

Mr. Ollivander was able to make new wands for everyone; most of his strength had come back and he was beginning to gain some weight. My new mahogany wand was ten and a half inches long, its core made from hippogriff heartstring. I liked it, but it felt different in my hand. It couldn't replace my old wand. I wondered what had happened to it. Perhaps Pansy was using it. The thought disgusted me, her sweaty hands gripping the wand that had belonged to me for the past seventeen years.

I hated Pansy Parkinson, with every bit of hate that remained in my body. I hated her for what she'd done to Liana. I hated her because she was a Death Eater. I looked down at my own Mark. I hated myself too. I hadn't necessarily agreed to become a Death Eater. It was . . . expected of me. It was also a punishment for my father's past failures. It was never supposed to happen. When I was a second year at Hogwarts, I probably would've thought it was great. Now that I realized that it's a nightmare.

My life had been just fine until I became a Death Eater over the summer. If I, somehow, could have avoided it, I would have. Then again, I wouldn't be the person I was today. I might not have even fallen in love with Liana. Hell, I might not have met her to begin with. I rarely associated with people from other Houses, unless my fellow Slytherins and I were picking on the Gryffindors.

I'd completely changed since I met Liana. I'd become much kinder. Sure, I had the potential to be just as cold as I used to be, but I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings intentionally. It just wasn't in me anymore. I didn't even care about blood purity. At this point, I was in love with a half-blood and friends with a "blood traitor" and a "Mudblood." I was even friends with Harry Potter! I never would've thought that it's all come down to this about two years ago, but it had.

Suddenly, and owl rapped at the bathroom window after I'd taken a shower. I opened the window and took the letter from its beak. The owl took off before I even opened it:

_Meet me at Spinner's End. I'll be waiting._

_Severus_

Why would Snape want to see me? Was it some sort of set up? No. Snape would never put me in danger intentionally. He respected my family. He liked me. He always had.

I decided to go. It couldn't hurt. It must be important if he'd sent me an owl. I couldn't tell anyone where I was really going. Harry would be pissed, possibly beyond measure. No one needed to know, especially not Bill or Fleur.

I quickly got dressed, pulling on a sweater and some clean slacks. It was mid day, the sun shining high in the blue sky. It was a beautiful day, warm too. I walked down the staircase, hearing a commotion in the kitchen. I took a peek inside; everyone was starting to set up to have lunch.

Seeing me, Liana smiled. Things were back to normal with us, somewhat. We hadn't touched since the day we escaped the cellar. We hadn't kissed either. Now, it had been four months since my lips had pressed against hers. I missed her sweet smell of apples. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair until she fell asleep.

I yearned to make love to her delicate and precious body. I'd only gotten the opportunity to do it once. Our first time had been perfect, and I was happy with that. But, as a man, it would be nice to have that experience again.

"I thought you'd never come out of the bathroom," said Liana. "We're having soup and sandwiches. There's ham, your favorite." I smiled at this; she still remembered though I told her that some time ago.

"Sounds great," I said, smiling a warm smile of my own. The little things she did always managed to get me in a good mood.

Everyone sat down and began eating. I took a huge bite out of my sandwich. It had been a long time since I'd last had some ham. It reminded me of Hogwarts. I remembered the day that Liana and I had a picnic by the lake, eating ham sandwiches and jelly doughnuts. I recalled squeezing the jelly out of mine and wiping it on Liana's cheek. In turn, she did the same to me.

Memories like these sent butterflies through my stomach, as if the events were happening all over again. I wished that we could all be happy again, but we were suffering underneath all of the smiles and laughter.

During lunch, no one talked about anything sad. Everyone talked about our times at Hogwarts, one of the places I'd been happy—mostly because Liana was there. "And did you see Hermione at the Yule Ball? I never saw her in a dress until then," said Ron enthusiastically, as if he'd been waiting years to say it.

I smiled. "Yes," I said, smiling. "Though, I never would've admitted it then, but you looked beautiful."

"Thanks," she said, blushing. She didn't hate me, but it was strange for us to be cordial toward one another.

"Who'd you bring?" piped up Dean after slurping a spoonful of vegetable soup. He turned toward me, waiting for a reply.

"I asked a Beauxbatons girl. Her name was . . . Lucille. She was pretty nice for a Beauxbatons girl," I replied.

"Hey!" said Liana, putting down her water. "I was one of them once! I know Lucille! _Lucille_? Of all others? She was older than you."

I shrugged. "Only by a year! So what," I said. "What can I say? Women can't resist the charm of the Slytherin Prince." Everyone burst out in laughter, except Griphook, who didn't find the situation funny at all.

After lunch, I announced that I was going to take a walk on the beach, which was clearly a lie. I just needed an excuse to get out of the house. Everyone else had gone to take naps. Staying in the cottage, there wasn't much to do. Liana, however, decided that she wasn't tired. Mentally, I scowled.

As I made my way to the back door, Liana followed. "Do you mind if I come with you?" she asked.

I hesitated, not really wanting to push her away. "I'd rather you stay here," I said. Then added thoughtfully, "I want to be alone for awhile."

Her face turned serious. She raised her eyebrows as she said, "Fine." Rejected, she made a point of stomping up the staircase so that I could hear.

I sighed and walked out onto the beach. I pushed my wand deeper into my pocket and Apparated to Spinner's End. This was the neighborhood in which Snape lived. I recalled coming with Father a few years back. It was raining here, so I walked quickly and knocked on Snape's door.

He opened the door, looking at me in a not so friendly manner. He poked his head out of the door, looking both ways before finally letting me inside. I followed him into the sitting room, filled with what had to be hundreds of books. He motioned for me to sit down. "Tea?" he asked, holding up a cup.

I shook my head. "No thanks."

He sat in the chair across from me, taking a sip of the tea he'd prepared. He cleared his throat. "I've summoned you here because Dumbledore has passed on a bit of information that you need to tell Harry."

"So why didn't you just—" I stopped myself, remembering that Harry currently wanted Snape dead. "I mean, what is it that I need to know?"

"I suppose that you know about the horcruxes," he said. I nodded. "Before I killed Dumbledore, he told me something. Do you know what Helga Hufflepuff's Cup is?" I nodded once more, not too sure of what he was getting at. "Good. Now . . . the cup is located in Bellatrix's vault. If you would like to put an end to the Dark Lord's reign, then I suggest that you come with me to retrieve it."

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Break into Gringott's? That's bloody mad, that is! How are we supposed to get inside? Better yet, how am I supposed to get inside? Won't the Dark Lord find out?"

"I have my ways, Draco," he said, not smiling. "And the Dark Lord is no longer interested in you, at the moment. In reality, he wishes to have the girl killed. I _told_ you not to let him find out about her. You've been careless. She is in grave danger. It is of extreme importance that he doesn't know her whereabouts. If you wish her to live, she must be protected."

"Of course I want her alive! What kind of question is that?"

"I was once in your shoes . . . trying to protect the woman I love. I failed to keep Lily Potter alive."

"Harry's mother?" He nodded. I didn't know that he'd ever been in love. I didn't even know that he was capable of loving someone. "I'll do it," I said. "Whatever it takes."


	19. Getting Into Gringott's

**DRACO POV**

I returned to Snape's house the next day, and the day after that. They'd been carefully executing their plan to get into Gringott's. Snape and I had also been discussing the possible locations of the other horcruxes. "So you've been on both sides the whole time?" I asked. I'd wanted to ask for a while.

He nodded. "Always." I was impressed. I never would've thought. Snape had appeared to be a loyal Death Eater over the years. My father was or, at least, he tried to be. I had so much respect for Snape now, since I knew the truth. "So we'll leave tomorrow morning. As I've said before, do not tell anyone of this plan. You must leave unnoticed. We will meet in Diagon Alley at five thirty. Do not be late," he said.

I took that as my cue. "I'll see you then," I said. He gave me a small smile and let me out of the house.

I Disapparated, landing back on the beach outside of Shell Cottage. I saw Liana walking toward me. She didn't look very happy. Before I could think of anything to say, she shoved me. "Draco Lucius Malfoy! Where the _hell_ have you been?"

I stared at her in shock. I hadn't seen her angry in a long time. I had to admit, her reddened face looked even more beautiful than before. "Nowhere," I said softly. I hated to have to lie to her. I hated lying to her. And the worst part of it all was that she knew very well that I was lying.

She glared at me. I wondered if she was going to lash out at me. Instead, she shouted, "Don't lie to me." I stared at her instead. I stared into her eyes, ocean blue meeting green. "Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to tell me what's going on?"

I didn't answer her. Instead, I pulled her by her waist and crashed my lips into hers. She did not resist. If anything, she deepened our kiss and allowed our tongues to meet. It was the best feeling in the world, I thought . . . being able to kiss Liana again. It had been a long time. Far too long.

As we kissed, I felt a warm liquid spill onto my face. I pulled away and noticed tears rolling down Liana's face. I wasn't sure if it was because she was happy or if something else was bothering her. The fact that I had lied to her probably hurt her. I placed my hands on her shoulders. She wouldn't look at me. "Liana," I said softly, "what's the matter?" She said nothing, just sniffled through her silent tears. "Please . . . look at me."

"Have you found someone else? Is that why you've been sneaking about the past couple of days?" she whispered.

My lips parted. "How could you think that?" I asked. "How could you possibly think that I'd be seeing someone else?"

I wiped the tears from her face with my thumbs. She said, "You've been lying to me—to all of us—about where you're going. And I was so horrible to you on Christmas Eve . . . I thought that you might've decided to move on."

I shook my head. She must've been insane if she thought I'd ever want anyone else. "I'm in love with you, Liana. Nothing will ever change that. It doesn't matter how much we fight or how much we hurt each other. I'll always love you. It's always you. Do you understand that?" I asked. She nodded slowly, smiling through her now reddened eyes. "I don't want anyone else. No one else can replace you. I could never love someone as much as I love you. Those months we were apart, you were all I think about. I love you. More than anything."

She opened her mouth, but the words didn't come. She wrapped her arms around me, breathing into my chest. I could feel her heart beating against my chest. "I love you, Draco. I want to be with you, so much. Will you take me back?"

I kissed her forehead. "Of course," I said. I picked her up and spun her around, the way a groom would to his bride. I hoped someday that I'd make her my bride.

As we walked inside, I felt the ring in the inside of my pocket. Someday, and someday soon, I'd get down on one knee and ask her to marry me. I couldn't imagine my life any other way. Without her, I had no idea what I'd do.

Ron, noticing my hand in Liana's, jumped up and pointed at us. "I _told_ you, Harry! I told you they'd be back together before we leave! You owe me five galleons!"

I smiled. Harry smiled at us too, before he grudgingly gave Ron the money. Hermione shook her head. She was in the sitting room, huddled over a book. She'd taken advantage of the bookshelf. It had all sorts of books. I wasn't much of a reader, though I didn't mind reading if the book sparked my interest.

Dean, Luna, Griphook, and Ollivander had left for Aunt Muriel's, so the house had much more space now. Now Ron, Harry and I shared a room, while Hermione and Liana shared the other.

* * *

Liana had been so happy about us getting back together, that she hadn't asked me about where I'd been either. I was thankful for that. I'd explain everything once the horcrux was in my hands, safe and sound.

I slipped on some clothes and crept out of the room. I closed the door behind me and tiptoed downstairs. I quietly left the house, shutting the back door, careful not to make too much noise.

The cloudless sky was dark. The beach was pitched black. I could hardly see a thing. I could only hear the soft whispers of the waves, crashing onto the shore. I Apparated to Diagon Alley, where Snape was already waiting for me. He nodded, looking as if he was waiting for me to say something. "So we're just going to walk in? Aren't I the 'Undesirable Number Two' or something?"

He chuckled to himself. "Actually, you are," he said, pointing to a poster on the brick wall that was beginning to peel off. I smirked a little. "However, I can be very persuasive. We've gone over this several times, Draco. If you relax, it'll be over quickly."

I sighed in response as we walked toward Gringott's. I never noticed how empty Diagon Alley was before. Ollivander's was closed, as well as pretty much everything else. The only place that was open was the joke shop. I supposed that people needed a laugh every now and then.

There were guards at the entrance, who looked at Snape suspiciously. One of them said, "Isn't that the Malfoy boy? Shouldn't he be in Azkaban?"

Snape glared at the two wizards. "He is with me," he said. "If you are questioning me, you question the Dark Lord himself. Perhaps you two should like to take a trip to Azkaban." With that, Snape walked in. I followed behind smirking at their utterly frightened faces.

He walked up to a goblin at the desk. "I wish to go into the Lestrange vault," he said, an aura of authority coming off of him.

The goblin looked up at him. "I'm afraid, sir, that you cannot. Please come back with the Lestranges at another time," said the goblin.

Again, Snape glared at him. The goblin had no reaction. "I am under instruction of the Dark Lord," he said, banging his hands on the desk. "The Dark Lord reigns. Whatever He says will go. Now, you will take us to the vault of the Lestranges. Unless, of course, you wish me to summon Him so that _He_ can come up with a valid solution to this problem."

"No," he said. "That won't be necessary, Mr. Snape. Please, follow me." He leaned closer to me and whispered, "I told you that this would work."

I smiled as we followed the tiny goblin into a cart. The goblin sat in the front, while Snape and I sat in the back. In a few minutes, we arrived at the Lestranges' vault. The goblin pressed his hand to the vault, giving us access to it. "Leave," I said, noticing that the goblin was still at the door, waiting for something.

"Hey," I said. "Isn't that the Sword of Gryffindor?"

"Yes," he said, "but it is a fake."

"So where is this cup?" I asked, as we walked around the room.

"I don't know," he said. "Look around carefully. And don't touch anything. There are bound to be charms cast all over the place."

I nodded, continuing to look around. The Lestranges had almost as much money as my family. Most of the pure bloods were wealthy . . . except the Weasleys, I supposed.

On top of all the gold, I spotted it. "There it is!" I said. Snape walked over from the other side of the room.

"I'll get it," he said through a smile. One minute, he was next to me. The next minute, he was . . . flying! He flew over the cup, hovering over it for a moment before grabbing it and reappearing next to me.

"Brilliant," I said. "I didn't know you could fly."

"There is much that you do not know, Draco," he said, handing me Helga Hufflepuff's Cup.

* * *

**Yay! Liana and Draco are back together! Now what's going to happen now that Draco has the horcrux? The Battle of Hogwarts is coming soon... real soon! I'm excited! Are you excited? Vote and comment! Show me you care! 3**


	20. One Step Closer

**LIANA POV**

I woke up early the next morning. I turned over on the bed, where Hermione was fast asleep next to me with a book lying across her chest. _She must've fallen asleep reading_, I thought. I tiptoed to the bathroom, avoiding the creaking floorboards.

When I came out, I walked past the boys' room. I cracked the door open to see if they were awake. Ron was snoring and Harry was lying across the bed on his back. Draco wasn't there.

I looked all over the house, but he wasn't around. Where had he gone now? I was starting to get angry again. I realized that I never asked him about where he'd been going. Wherever he'd been going was probably where he was now. As soon as I got my hands on him, I'd slap him silly.

I put on my shoes and made my way to the beach. I walked up and down the shoreline, hoping it would calm me down a bit. It didn't. At first, I was angry. Now I was worried. What if something had happened to him? I couldn't bear to live without him.

Out of thin air, he appeared a few feet away clutching some sort of cup in his hand. It seemed as if this was a repeat of yesterday. I found myself storming toward him . . . again. He smiled, but he wouldn't be for long.

I slapped him across the face. He winced, but he said nothing. He only rubbed the side of his face with his hand. "Well?" I asked. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you! You could've been killed."

"I'm perfectly alive aren't I?" he asked, with that familiar Malfoy smirk plastered across his face. I shoved him and hit him several times, only to find him laughing.

"This isn't a game, Draco!" I shouted. "What were you doing that was so important that you had to sneak out before daybreak?"

He held out the cup. I took it, examining it. "What's this for? I didn't know you collected antiques."

"I don't," he said. "It brings us another step closer to defeating Him."

My eyes widened. "A horcrux? But how did you—"

"Snape helped me. He asked to see me a few days ago. He said that it was important, so I met him. He told me that the cup was in the Lestrange vault. We only went to retrieve it so that we could destroy it," he explained.

"You _broke_ into Gringott's?" she exclaimed.

"No," he said. "Let's just say that Snape can be very persuasive. He got us past the guards and the goblins. He had to fly to get the cup, but he got it. And here it is."

"Snape did all of this?" I said. It was rubbish. Why would Snape help us? After all, he'd killed Dumbledore a few weeks ago.

"Yes. He's been on both sides all along. He told me that Dumbledore told Snape to kill him. He explained a few things, but there's still a lot that I don't know."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said.

Draco shrugged. "You're right," he said. "It doesn't. But a few more horcruxes and we can put an end to him. We'll have plenty of time to ask questions after all of this is over."

Draco and I were a few steps away from happiness. I hugged him tightly, never wanting to let him go. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too, my love," he whispered into my hair. I smiled into his chest. I loved it when he called me that. Draco always knew how to make me feel wanted. I've never wanted anyone else as bad as I wanted him. Not even Seamus. Though, I still had a place for Seamus in my heart.

I wished that my parents were here. My mother would've liked Draco. My father, on the other hand, never would've liked me with any boy. I supposed that it was that "fatherly instincts." But my mother would've been happy, as long as I was happy.

I wondered how Bella was doing. I hadn't had any contact with her since I left France. I supposed it was best. She already knew that I was alive. Surely, she would've known if I was dead.

I took Draco's hand, leading him back to the house. "Come on. Let's wake the others and tell them what's happened. I think Bill and Fleur are still asleep."

* * *

**DRACO POV**

"What do you mean you've got the horcrux?" demanded Harry.

I held up Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. "I got it out of my aunt's vault. Snape told me that Dumbledore said—"

"I don't give a damn about what Snape said! How do we know that it's not a fake?" asked Harry.

"Calm down, Harry," said Hermione, placing a hand on his arm. Harry looked as if he wanted to attack me.

"Just listen to him for a minute, mate," said Ron. Then Harry's expression went from a glare to a straight face. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to finish. I explained the story again, careful to tell them all of the details.

"So let's destroy it," said Liana, "before Fleur and Bill wake."

"Okay," said Harry. He turned to me. "I'm sorry. This is all very confusing. Dumbledore hardly left us any clues as to where these horcruxes are. I don't trust Snape."

"I know it sounds like rubbish, but it's true. There's so much that we don't know. We'll figure it all out soon. But right now, we need to destroy this horcrux," I said, smiling.

We tiptoed down the steps, careful not to make too much noise. It was only seven. We went onto the beach, a good distance from the house. Harry had the sword of Gryffindor in his hand. I placed Helga Hufflepuff's Cup onto the sand and waited.

He thrust the blade into the cup. It seemed to unleash a strong gust of wind that send everyone flying onto their backs and a high pitched scream. "Blimey," said Ron, sitting up. No one else said anything. We were all too shocked, mouths open and all.

"I didn't expect that," I said.

"The last horcrux was even worse," said Hermione. "It conjured up a sort of apparition of Harry and I. The voice that came out of it said horrible things about—" Seeing Ron's death glare, she stopped short. She gave me a look that said she was sorry.

The Cup had vanished. "So where can we find the other horcruxes?" I asked. "Any ideas? I don't think Snape knows where the others are."

"I think that we should go to Hogwarts," said Harry. Noticing the look of disapproval on Hermione's face, he said, "It's one of the only places that he has connections with. The only other place I could think of searching would be the Riddle House. The orphanage doesn't even exist anymore."

"But Harry—" started Hermione.

"I think we should give it a shot," said Ron.

"Me too," said Liana. "It wouldn't hurt."

"We'll have to plan. Being that Snape is on both sides, he can't greet us like old friends. He's Headmaster. He has to at least act like he's on His side," I said.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Harry. "We'll start after we eat something. I'm famished."

"I'll cook," offered Liana.

* * *

**Just wrote this even though I'm absolutely exhausted. I know it's short, but with the holidays I'll be able to write some more. Well, when I'm not in a struggle with my homework lol. But review! And follow so you can keep up with updates! :)**


	21. Wounds That Will Never Be Healed

**DRACO POV**

Over the next several days, we argued about how we'd get into Hogwarts. As everyone bickered, I just watched. I knew that it didn't matter since anything could go wrong at any time.

Harry said that we should wing it. I agreed. "We don't know what's going to happen," I said. "It's better to just go with it."

"No," said Hermione. "We need a set plan."

"When have one of our plans actually worked?" asked Harry, talking to Hermione in particular.

"Well—," she started.

Liana cut her off. "If we were to come up with some sort of plan, what would happen if something or someone went wrong and threw the whole plan off track? Then what would we do?"

Ron spoke up. "I think the lady's got a point," he said. "None of our 'plans' have ever worked anyway. We might as well just wing it."

"Exactly," said Harry. "So when should we leave? We should probably leave as soon as possible. How about tomorrow night?"

We agreed, finally. I was exhausted with all of this planning. As I lay down in bed that evening, I thought about my mother. I missed her. I wondered what she was doing. I knew that she was worried about me. I knew my father was worried too, but I refused to miss him. It was his fault that I was on the run. I wondered why he became a Death Eater in the first place. He was a coward. At least, now he was.

I thought about my future. If we didn't defeat Him, the future looked bleak. Perhaps I'd leave the country again and take Liana with me. But what if she didn't want to go?

If we did defeat Him, the future looked just right. I'd marry Liana, give her children, and live in a nice house. If I had a son, I'd make sure to be the perfect father to him. I'd never put his life in danger—not like my father did. And if I had a daughter, I'd love her and give her the world, if I could. Liana, I would love and cherish forever. I would tell her that she is beautiful every day and how lucky I am to have her.

When my eyes fluttered open, Liana's green eyes scared the living life out of me. "What the hell?" I gasped.

She smiled and said, "We're about to leave. Harry told me to wake you up. Get dressed. Bill and Fleur have just gone to bed."

Now that I had regained my focus, I pulled her down on the bed next to me and kissed her. "You're beautiful," I said. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Draco," she whispered against my ear, sending butterflies through my stomach. "I'll be downstairs," she said, standing up. She bent down to kiss my cheek before leaving the room, closing the door shut behind her.

I quickly got dressed and hurried downstairs, slipping the engagement ring into my pocket beforehand. My friends were waiting for me with solemn looks plastered across their faces. "This is it," said Harry. "Are you two sure you want to do this? We might not be able to come back here after tonight."

Liana looked at me and smiled, automatically making me smile as well. "Yes," I said. "I'm positive."

"Okay," said Harry. "I don't know what will be waiting for us when we get to Hogsmeade, so make sure you can get to your wands." I felt mine in the pocket of my pants as everyone else did. We linked hands. "Ready?" Just a second later, it seemed as though I was being squeezed through a tube. I recalled the very first time I Apparated with my father. I believe that I fainted.

Wherever we were, an alarm sounded. "Damn," I said. "They must've been expecting us to come here." Harry looked around for someplace to hide. People would start coming out of their shops and houses at any moment. "Over there," I said, pointing to what looked like the Hog's Head Inn. There was a wall that we could hide behind.

Quickly, we hid before we were spotted. It got very cold, as if the world was made of ice. Dementors were coming closer to us. I could see the hood of one. We heard the murmurs of Death Eaters, also searching for us. "They gotta be around here somewhere," a voice said in the distance.

"Expecto patronum!" whispered Harry sending the Dementors hurling in the opposite direction. I knew that it gave us away and that we'd probably end up being caught. This was it, I thought.

I heard the door of the seemingly abandoned inn open from behind me. "In here," said a man's voice. Noticing our hesitation, he added, "Quickly!" We did as he said, pouring into the man's house.

"Wasn't that Dumbledore's brother?" asked Hermione.

"I've seen him in the Prophet before. He certainly does look a great deal like him," said Liana.

"Quiet!" Harry hissed, trying to listen to what Aberforth was saying to the Death Eaters outside. The Death Eaters were arguing with him that the Patronus was a stag. I gasped. That was Harry's patronus. Everyone knew that. We were done for now.

"Stag? It was a goat, you idiot!" argued the man who'd let us into his home.

"All right, we made a mistake. Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!" A moment later, the man returned to the dark room that we were currently standing in. He switched on a lamp, light filling the room.

We were standing in a parlor with a sofa and a few armchairs. There was a portrait of a girl who looked about our age, probably younger. Harry turned to face the man. "Are you Aberforth?"

He nodded, no emotion showing in his wrinkled face. "Would you like some tea or coffee?" Aberforth asked.

"Okay," we said in unison. He told us to sit down, so we did. Liana and I sat in armchairs next to each other closest to the fireplace. It was spring, but it still got rather chilly at night. A moment later, he brought us mugs of peppermint tea. Liana and I drank in silence while the others got enveloped in a story that Aberforth was telling them about the girl in the portrait, Ariana Dumbledore.

"Draco," said Liana. "Thank you."

"What for?" I asked, taking a sip of the warm tea.

"For taking care of me," she replied. "I'm glad that I decided to go with you that night, back at Hogwarts. I know that it hasn't been easy for either of us, but it's been worth it."

I smiled. "You're welcome," I said. "I'd never put you in harm's way. You know that, right?"

She nodded. "I just hope that we can all survive this battle. We still have a few more horcruxes to destroy. Then it will all be over."

"We'll all get through this. If it's the last thing I do, we will rid the world of Him," I said, reaching over to take her hand in mine. I gave it a light squeeze. As I did, the portrait swung open. Neville appeared, with Dean and Luna.

"Luna!" squealed Liana, who ran over to hug her. "How did you get here?" Luna smiled and started to tell her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Neville, referring to me. I assumed that Dean hadn't gotten a chance to fill him in on everything that had happened the past year or so.

I shook my head. "Trust me," I said. "It's a _really_ long story. But to keep it short, Liana and I are helping to destroy Him." As I pulled up my sleeve, he flinched. "I was one of them, but I left. And here I am."

Neville's face turned slightly red. He turned to Harry. "How do you know that he won't betray you? How can we trust him?"

"Neville," I said reassuringly, "as much as you might loathe me, you have to know that He is looking for me as well. He'll kill me if he gets the chance. I want Him dead before he gets that chance. You do understand that, don't you?"

Neville nodded and gave me a small smile. "Come on, we'd better get going," he said, motioning for us to follow him through the portrait hole. We thanked and said goodbye to Aberforth before following Neville.

We walked a while until we walked up a steep flight of stairs, leading to a door. I heard someone say, "Lightning has struck! I repeat, lightning has struck!" as we got closer. Neville pushed the door open, where I saw several of my former classmates standing around in front of us. We stepped down into the room, filled with cots and blankets and pillows and Gryffindor and Ravenclaw banners.

* * *

**LIANA POV**

The first person that I saw when I stepped down into the room was Seamus. His eyes widened when he saw me. He rushed over to me, pushing everyone out of the way. He stared at me for a long time before he actually hugged me. "You're alive," he whispered. I looked over at Draco, who was helping Harry explain what was going on and what they needed to find. "I've missed you so much."

I smiled, then it faded when I looked more closely at his face. He was all beaten and bruised. "What happened to your face?"

"It's the Carrows. They'll punish anybody who doesn't do things their way. That's why we've been hiding in here. It's the one place where they can't get to us," he said.

"I'm sorry, Seamus," I said softly, looking down at the ground.

"Why did you leave?" he asked. "Where the hell have you been the past year?"

"It's complicated," I replied.

"And I suspect that you were with Malfoy the whole time," he said. "Is that right?"

I nodded. "I'll explain things later, okay? I promise."

"I never stopped thinking about you," he said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I thought you might have been dead. Do you have any idea what that did to me? I'm really sorry for everything that I've ever done to you, but what _you've_ done was even crueler."

"Seamus," I started, but he was already gone. I sat down on one of the cots and put my head in my hands. I felt someone sit down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see my cousin, Bella. I hugged her tightly, crying on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry," I said.

"It's okay," she said. "We're all going to be okay. I promise." Then Draco appeared in front of me, sitting on the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking my hand.

I shook my head. "No," I said, "but I will be."

"We're going to try to find the," he said, looking at Isabella, "_things_. You can stay here if you want to. I'll find you later."

"I'll stay," I replied. "Good luck." He gave me a kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd. I saw Seamus standing next to Dean, probably talking about me. When he saw me looking at him, he shook his head and turned the other way.

I felt horrible. I had been the one to destroy him. Bella told me that Seamus had been a mess, but I had no idea how bad it must've hurt him. Maybe worse that I'd hurt Draco. I felt like such a terrible person. I wanted to crawl under a rock and cry there.

I didn't love Seamus anymore, but that didn't mean that I didn't care about him. I wanted him to be happy. I didn't want him to be sad. I was the source of his sadness. I'd ruined everything, as usual. Seamus was happy that I was alive, but that didn't stop him from hating what I did to him. I made him go mad. The fault was my own.

It was as if I took a blade and shoved it right through his heart. Seamus' heart had been broken a long time, all because of me. I broke his heart when I didn't give him another chance. I broke his heart when I was with Draco. And I broke his heart when I disappeared with him. And I was still breaking his heart because every time he looked at me, those images flashed through his mind, breaking his heart all over again.

* * *

**This chapter was so emotional for me! I literally started crying :(**

**But anyway, I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

**Review! And follow so that you'll be alerted when I update! And feel free to PM me. I don't bite ;)**

**Now I think I'll watch Vampire Diaries :)**


	22. An Unexpected Visitor

**DRACO POV**

Apparently, Snape wasn't here. He'd left the Carrows in charge for the time being. I knew how they operated and it meant nothing good. Everyone who had stayed at Hogwarts for a seventh year must have had hell.

Harry went to speak with the ghost of Ravenclaw while Hermione, Ron, and I decided to alert Professor McGonagall of what was going on. Before he rushed off, he told us that Voldemort had his eyes set on Hogwarts and that he was planning on coming that night. She had the right to know. After all, Hogwarts could be attacked at any given moment.

As we walked to her office, we stumbled across two very familiar faces: Amycus and Alecto Callow. Before either had a chance to act, Hermione and I stunned them and binded their limbs together. The siblings collapsed onto the hard stone ground. I looked up at Ron and Hermione as I hovered over their bodies. "We'll have to wipe their memories," I said. Nodding, he crouched down beside me.

"Obliviate," he said, pointing his wand at Alecto. He whispered the spell once more before pointing his wand toward Amycus.

"Mr. Malfoy?" I turned to see Professor McGonagall rushing toward me. Her eyes were wide with shock and, possibly, fear. I wasn't sure if that was due to the fact that two teachers lay unconscious on the ground or if it was because she, along with everyone else, believed me to be missing in action. She stopped in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders, like she couldn't believe that it was really me standing before her. "You're alive?" I nodded, a small smile forming at my mouth. "And Miss Blake?"

"She's fine," I said. "We're both well."

"Professor," interrupted Hermione as McGonagall opened her mouth to speak. "We were actually coming to find you . . . to tell you what's been going on."

"First, we should probably shove these two into a broom closet or something," said Ron. Professor McGonagall nodded as Ron and I pulled the two around the corner. Even with Hermione helping with the legs, Alecto had to weigh at least two hundred pounds. Ron opened the door and stuffed the Carrows inside.

"We'll talk in my office," she said, leading us down empty corridors. It was past nine. Everyone was supposed to be in the dormitories by now. Opening a door, she gestured for us to go inside and have a seat. There was no time to waste, so I started with the night Liana and I left Hogwarts. I told her why I left and what I was.

"I brought Liana along because I thought it would be more dangerous for her to stay. He or anyone else could have gotten whatever they wanted out of her. I couldn't afford for that to happen. After we lived in Salem for a while, the Lestranges found us. Luckily we were able to get away. We went to France and stayed with Liana's grandparents. After we got into a fight and she kicked me out, I stayed with Fred and George. I found out that Liana was kidnapped so I went to rescue her. They locked me in the cellar, along with Harry and Ron. My aunt tortured Hermione," I explained, leaving out the horcruxes. Thanks to Dobby we were able to escape. We stayed at Shell Cottage until now. We had to come here and try to find a way to stop Him. We triggered the alarms in Hogsmeade, so I think he knows that we're here. Or at least that Harry's here. And he'll kill whoever he has to in order to get to me . . . and Harry too. We have to get the students out of here before it's too late."

Professor McGonagall didn't say anything for a moment or two. From the look on her face, she was trying to figure out what to do.

"I almost forgot," I said. "Pansy's a Death Eater. She's alive."

Her lips parted in shock. Then her lips set into a fine line. "I'll alert the students. Wait here."

"Wait!" said Hermione. "There are . . . students hiding out in the Room of Requirement. Should we get them as well?"

She thought it over for a moment and said, "Never mind. Retrieve them and bring them to the Great Hall. Wait there while I get the others."

* * *

**SEAMUS POV**

I couldn't believe that Liana was alive. There she was, looking at me with sad green eyes. But I couldn't forgive her. As much as I loved her and how happy I was that she was safe, I couldn't possibly forgive her for what she'd done. Maybe I was being unreasonable, but I didn't care.

Liana broke my heart. She _always_ broke my heart. My heart was left in ruins every time she came around.

I'd broken her heart too, after I cheated on her. But it was a mistake, never meant to happen. I'd apologized over and over again, but she still left me for Malfoy. What did he have that I didn't? I could treat her just as well if she'd give me another chance. I would never forgive myself for screwing up my first chance. I ruined the only chance I had.

I wondered if she and Malfoy had ever gotten in to arguments. Did he know how to comfort her? To make her smile? I wanted to know everything, but there was no one to ask. Obviously he loved her if, wherever they went, he took her with him. And it was clear that she loved him too, being that she went with him without putting up a fight.

She'd fallen in love with him and out of love with me. I resented Malfoy for that. I mean, he practically took her from me.

Dean tapped me, bringing me back to reality. Malfoy, Ron, and Hermione were in the middle of the room making some sort of announcement. I began to listen. ". . . and we need everyone to cooperate. Professor McGonagall sent us to bring you to the Great Hall. She has an announcement to make," said Hermione.

"What about the Carrows? They'll have our heads if they spot us," asked someone that I could not see.

I saw Malfoy smirk from across the room. "They've been . . . taken care of. We won't be seeing much of them tonight."

"So they've left, then?" I asked.

"Not exactly, but we need to get going. Follow us, everyone," he said, pretty much ignoring the question I had asked. Rolling my eyes, Dean and I followed everyone else toward the Great Hall.

"You okay?" whispered Dean.

"Not at all," I said, shrugging. "But I'll manage somehow."

"I know how you feel, you know," he said. "I loved Ginny, but she left me for Harry. She said that it's not true, but everyone knows it is. You should see the way she looks at him. At least Liana loved you back. Ginny didn't. Not at all."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I reckon I never thought of it that way."

* * *

**LIANA POV**

"What's going on?" asked Isabella. "Why do we have to meet in the Great Hall?"

I didn't answer her. I didn't know what was going on either. I had an idea I supposed, but I wasn't quite sure. Isabella and I walked side by side. On the way, we ran into a group of Slytherins. Isabella whispered that she was going to find Blaise and disappeared from my view.

Everyone entered the Great Hall, where the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors were already waiting. My group, along with the Slytherins filed into the room, which was now empty. Everyone sorted into their Houses. I supposed that technically I was still a Ravenclaw.

As I walked by, everyone gasped. At this point, everyone knew who I was. I felt uncomfortable as I made my way to my former House. My friend, Victoria Crosshart hurried over to me. Following her were other people that I'd known. I suppose that they deserved some sort of explanation, but I couldn't tell them without telling them everything. "What the hell happened to you? Everyone was convinced you were dead!" she shouted.

"Draco and I ran away together," I replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie. Draco and I _did_ run away together.

"Why?" she asked, giving me a strange look. Several sets of eyes bore into my skin for more information.

"Because," I said, "I love him." That wasn't a lie either. I did—do—love Draco Malfoy . . . more than anything. Before they could ask any more questions, Professor McGonagall's voice filled the room.

"As you all know, the Dark Lord is back. He is most powerful at this point and he plans to attack Hogwarts. And I feel that it is no longer safe for you to stay here. I will make arrangements for everyone to return to their homes and families. I have also sent for help, in case he does attack tonight." Disagreement broke out as soon as she spoke and everyone began to argue and shout and try to come up with reasonable solutions as to what should happen.

"No!"

"We want to fight to!"

"Yeah!"

"He killed my mum! I'll rip his heart out!"

"I'll kill him myself!"

"How about we get some backup? We could alert Beauxbatons and Durmstang! They could help!"

"But I don't want to die! He'll kill us all! It'll be a massacre!"

"How are we getting out of here?"

There were so many questions, but no answers. In all the chaos, I heard a strange sound. Immediately, all was quiet. I heard the sound of footsteps, clicking nearby. Pushing through the crowd, I moved closer so in order to see.

Pansy Parkinson stood in the middle of the floor, in front of hundreds of gaping students. "I'm alive!" she said, twisting her face up in a crooked smile. "You don't seem very pleased to see me. I have a message for all of you, from the Dark Lord himself. He knows that Harry Potter is under this very roof."

Pansy let out a laugh and continued to walk. "You have exactly one hour to hand Harry over to the Dark Lord. In one hour, the destruction of Hogwarts will begin. Everyone that tries to defend Harry will be smote down. Anyone that tries to stand in the way of Harry Potter's capture will meet an early death. If you know what is best, you will not dare stand in His way." She turned, noticing someone. "And you," she said venomously. "You will lose someone most dear to you by dawn. You might as well begin saying your goodbyes now."

At that Draco whipped his wand out and ran up to her, aiming the wand at her neck. She only laughed. "You don't have it in you to kill," she said. "You're a coward! And you're pathetic! The Dark Lord will deal with you."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, with her wand pointed at Pansy. She whispered something to Draco and he returned to the sidelines. "You will leave at once," she ordered, her tone authoritative.

Shrugging, she turned into a black mist. She flew out of the Great Hall and, hopefully, out of the building. I noticed that I, myself, was gaping, along with everyone else. She just flew! Draco said that Snape had been able to fly somehow. Apparently, so could Pansy Parkinson.

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update! It's been really hectic! And I had writer's block, which didn't help the situation. But anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Only a few chapters left until Draco is no longer "on the run" :)**


	23. Safe Haven

**LIANA POV**

There was silence. No one seemed to be able to utter a word. Professor McGonagall announced that there would be a train waiting in Hogsmeade for the younger students and anyone else who felt the need to go home.

Draco enveloped me in a hug; I hadn't noticed him coming toward me. "I won't let her hurt you," he said. "I promise."

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Harry suggested that we help get the younger ones out of here," he replied, gazing into my green eyes. I wished that we weren't in this mess. I wanted to be away from the chaos and to be happy with Draco. Was it too much to ask?

"Okay," I said, nodding. I felt uneasy, but I had to be strong. If I looked afraid, the younger ones would get the wrong idea. And we couldn't afford that. "Come on." Taking him by the arm, I led him to a group of frightened children.

"I'm _not_ leaving!" cried Colin Creevey. "I want to fight!"

"You've got to go home!" I said, annoyed. "If you want to stay alive, then you'll pack your things and get on that train."

Colin did not falter. Having had enough, Draco glared at him. "Take your brother upstairs and the both of you better hurry. And if I catch either one of you trying to stay behind, I'll hex you into next week!" he ordered. _That's my Draco_.

I smiled at his threat. Colin and Dennis Creevey scowled at my boyfriend before they turned around and left the Great Hall. I turned to Draco. "I'll take care of the Ravenclaws. You make sure all the Slytherins get out all right."

He pulled me in for a long kiss. "I love you," he said, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face.

"I love you too," I said. Starting off toward the hallway, Seamus lingered in the doorway with Dean. Seamus frowned when he saw me. And Dean looked uncomfortable. "Hey. Can you help make sure the Gryffindors get out safely?"

Seamus nodded, though he didn't take his eyes off of me. "Okay" was all he said. As soon as I was getting ready to go into the hallway, members of the Order showed up as well as several others. I ran up to Mrs. Weasley and hugged her. "Liana," she said. "How are you, dear? Are the others all right?"

I nodded. "Yes. We're all fine. We're just trying to get the young ones out of here before all hell breaks loose. McGonagall will fill you in. I've got to go."

"Be safe," she warned before I left for Ravenclaw Tower.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

As I walked, I kept an eye out for Pansy. No one had seen her and I was concerned for everyone's safety. She was dangerous, after all. I couldn't risk her hurting anyone. All of the young ones got out rather quickly, finally seeing the urgency of our current situation.

I wondered if my parents would show up. What would they do if they saw me? I would not, under any circumstances, go to them. I loved my mother dearly, but I would not give in. But what would Voldemort do if he saw me? Kill me? Torture me? Let me live? I didn't know and the possibilities were endless.

"Draco!" I turned to find Fred and George. Fred said, "Come on! Help us secure the castle! We've created a barrier. It ought to keep them out for at least a while."

"I sure as hell hope so," I muttered. Drawing my wand from my pocket, I decided to keep it in my grasp. For all we knew, Pansy could be around here somewhere. My stomach began to form into a knot. I was nervous. _Terrified is more like it_.

"Y'ready Georgie?" asked Fred.

"I'm ready for anything, Fred," said George, patting his brother on the back. As they spoke, the barrier was being penetrated. The twins turned to me. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Never better," I said with much sarcasm. The twins smiled.

Fred said, "We're gonna win this. Just you watch. I don't know about you, but I'm too sexy to die."

"Good to know," I said, bursting out into laughter. George joined in too, while Fred put his hand over his heart, offended that we though otherwise. "I reckon that I look better than you."

"Think so, Malfoy?" asked Fred, challenging me.

"Oh," I said, "I _know_ so."

"Draco?"

The three of us turned. Liana was running toward us, Isabella right behind her. Isabella was the first to speak. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a castle to save," she said, crossing her arms. Liana nodded her head in agreement.

"Actually," I said, taking Liana by the arm, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"What are you getting at?" my girlfriend asked. She looked annoyed, like she knew what I was thinking.

"I want you to get out of here," I replied. "_Both_ of you should get out here . . . right now. Go back to France. It'll be safe there. I'll—"

"No," she said.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I'm. Not. Leaving," she said, putting emphasis on each word. Liana didn't move. Neither did her cousin.

George chuckled. "Are you sure you're a Ravenclaw? Maybe she should've been a Gryffindor instead. That girl's brave."

My shock turned to frustration and anger. "Do you understand what's going on here? This isn't a game, Liana. This is a matter of life and death. You could die tonight. Hell, we could _all_ die tonight. I'm not going to let you die—I won't."

Liana looked bored, which pissed me off even more than before. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her away from everyone else. "Are you even listening to me? Say something!" I demanded.

With a sigh, she said, "I heard everything you said, but I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here, with you, whether you like it or not!"

"Don't you understand that this is dangerous? I can't lose you. I love you so much. I'm doing this _because_ I love you. I have to keep you safe. If I die, then so be it. But you will live . . . if it's the last thing I do, Liana Blake."

Instead of saying anything, she kissed me. "I love you too," she said. "That's why I have to stay. And who else is gonna get rid of Pansy once and for all." She started smiling and my expression immediately softened. "I'll have you know that I'm a _very_ skilled duelist."

I gave her faint smile. Before either of us could say anything, Isabella interrupted. "As much as I'd love to let you continue flirting, we've got bigger problems," she said, pointing toward the barrier. They were getting through and Death Eaters were making their way toward the school.

Liana swore under hear breath. "We've got to find Harry!" Liana said, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me with her.

"I'm going to find Blaise!" shouted Isabella after us. Liana and I ran and ran through the castle, which was complete and utter chaos. Everyone was running, in all directions. There were people crying, people yelling, and people pushing. If Dumbledore was still alive, perhaps there would be some sort of order. _And it's all my fault_. _I killed him . . ._

I felt a pang of sadness and regret as we made our way through the sea of students. "Blaise!" I called. Confused, he looked around to see who had called him. "Over here!" Finally, he noticed me. "Have you seen Harry, Ron, or Hermione?"

Before he could answer, I heard an explosion coming from outside. I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. No one else seemed to notice much. "I saw them outside, I think. Seamus and Neville were supposed to blow up the bridge."

"Thanks," I said, nodding. "Oh! Isabella was looking for you. She's with Fred and George up on the Astronomy Tower."

He gave me a nod of gratitude before disappearing into the crowds. Liana started waving her hands. "Ron!" she shouted. Ron came running toward us, Hermione behind him. "Where's Harry?"

Ron caught his breath. "He's gone into the Room of Requirement. We're going to get a basilisk fang."

I twisted my face into a confused expression. "A basilisk fang? What for?"

"Apparently it has the power to destroy a horcrux," answered Hermione. "We're going to use it on the next horcrux we find. Harry's looking for the diadem. Are you coming with us?"

I looked at Liana, who shrugged. Together, we made our way to the second floor—to the abandoned lavatory that we met in. I smirked at the thought, wondering what the hell would've happened to me if she hadn't stumbled in the bathroom that evening. As we entered, Liana winked at me. "Who would've expected the Chamber of Secrets to be in here?" Liana said aloud.

Ron approached the sinks and muttered something in a language that no one seemed to know but Harry. I raised my eyebrows at him. "You speak Parseltongue too?" I asked. One of the sinks slid down and made an opening.

"No," he replied. "Harry talks in his sleep sometimes. I've picked up a few things." _Interesting_.

One by one, we went inside. Ron first, the girls after, and me last. I think I screamed all the way down. By the time I got to the bottom of the slide of death, the color had drained from my face. I could just feel it. Upon my arrival, Liana and Hermione burst out in a fit of laughter. I scowled at both of them. "I'm sorry," said Hermione, unable to keep a straight face.

"You scream like a girl," said Liana.

"I'm glad you find it so amusing," I said dryly. "Now let's hurry up and get this over with." I stood in the pile of skeletal remains and helped Liana and Hermione to their feet. Ron led the way.

"This place gives me the chills," whispered Liana. "Are you sure that basilisk is dead?"

"Of course," he said. "Harry killed it, years ago . . . . That was back in our second year. If it were alive, I'm pretty sure we'd be running for our lives right now."

"That's made us feel loads better," I said. "Thanks Ron." He smiled and we continued through the tunnels.


	24. Too Late

**SEAMUS POV**

"Yeah? You and who's army?" Neville shouted, taunting the Death Eaters that were several feet away from us. The man who seemed to be the leader of the group stepped forward, testing. Somehow he was able to make it to the bridge's mouth. _The protection spells have been broken_, I thought.

Neville turned and began to run. We joined, not wasting any time. None of us wanted to die. I led the way; I was a pretty fast runner. From behind me, spells were being cast. I was too afraid to turn back to see what was happening, but from the sound of it I knew that everyone was all right. Then I heard a deafeningly loud explosion and too many yells to count. As soon as that happened, I whipped my head around. Several Death Eaters and snatchers were plummeting below, screaming for their dear, pathetic lives. Everyone was okay but I didn't see Neville anywhere. Ginny gave me a grave look and I automatically knew that something was wrong. I immediately went to the end of what was left of the bridge to find Neville dangling from a beam.

Relief swept over me like a broom. Grabbing his hand, I shouted, "He's all right! He's alive!" Then Dean and Luna came over to help me pull him up to safety. When Neville was finally safe, he let out his own sigh of relief.

"I thought I was a goner," he said, wiping his forehead. Then he turned to me. "I'm glad that you're good at pyrotechnics."

I smiled warmly. "I never thought pyrotechnics would save all of our lives."

"Thank you," he said, addressing everyone. Neville caught his breath and gestured for us to follow him. "Come on! They need our help!"

Running after him and the others, I was afraid of what lay ahead. I knew that a battle was taking place; I could hear it. But I didn't want to witness anyone die. I couldn't bear to see the bodies of any of my classmates or teachers sprawled out on the ground, bodies cold and lifeless. I just hoped that Liana, wherever she was, was safe. At this point, I wasn't even sure if she was still in the castle. I hadn't seen her anywhere.

**DRACO POV**

The horcrux was destroyed. We had the basilisk fang. Now, we were looking for Harry. "Do you still think he's in the Room of Requirement?" asked Hermione.

"Wouldn't hurt to look," I said, shrugging. We walked past its location several times, all thinking of Harry and the diadem.

"Look what we have here. It's the traitor," said a voice that I knew all too well. I turned on my heel to find Crabbe and Goyle.

"Why'd you do it?" said Crabbe, mostly out of curiosity.

"Because I refuse to make the same mistakes my father did. If you were smart, you wouldn't either," I said honestly.

"He's going to kill you tonight," Goyle said quietly.

"Then we'll just have to kill him before that happens," said Liana.

Both of their eyes widened. "Not before I kill _you_," taunted Pansy's voice from behind. I turned around to face her pug face. Then, in an instant, she grabbed Liana and was gone before she could scream.

My face turned ruddy in anger and frustration. I snatched my wand from my pocket and pointed it toward Crabbe and Goyle. "Draco, no! It's not worth it!" said Hermione from beside me.

"This was all a distraction, wasn't it?" I demanded, glaring at them both.

They shook their heads. "No, no, no. I swear," they said, in unison.

"Liars!" I shouted.

"W-We didn't know she was coming," stammered Goyle. If I could, I would shove veritaserum down both of their throats and squeezed the truth right out of them. I was so angry that I could kill them both . . . right now, but I wasn't going to stoop to His level. But there was no time for that. I had to get to Liana before something horrible happened to her. I couldn't lose her. Not too long ago, I'd promised that I wouldn't let Pansy hurt her. I had failed and now she might die because of me.

"Get out of here," I ordered. They made no hesitation as they both ran down the opposite side of the hallway. I backed up against the wall and slid down to the floor.

"This is all my fault," I whispered, holding my head in my hands. My efforts to protect Liana have been made futile. There was no longer any hope left. I had nothing in me now. I didn't have it in me to fight anymore. Without Liana, there was no reason for me to live anymore.

"It's not your fault, mate," said Ron.

"We'll get her back," said Hermione, soothing me. For my sake, I hoped that she was right.

I heard footsteps running toward us. Lifting my head, I could see that it was Harry. He looked from my devastated state, to Hermione, and then to Ron. "Where's Liana?" he asked.

"She took her," I said. "Pansy took her." Before Harry could open his mouth to say anything, we heard an explosion coming from below. The ground and walls shook.

"Where's the basilisk fang?" asked Harry. I stood up and took it out of my pocket, handing it to him. "This be sort of . . . startling. Brace yourselves." Harry raised the fang in the air and stabbed it right through the tiara. An ear piercing sort of scream was emitted from it, making me cup my ears to block the sound out.

When it was over, I spoke, my voice shaky. "We need to try and find her. We have to before . . . it's too late." Without any more questions, the four of us hurried downstairs, where the real battle was taking place. I could see that the whole castle was in complete disorder and utter confusion. Everything was happening so quickly, a blur.

Seamus, Neville, Ginny, and a few others had just entered the castle, dodging spells coming from outside. Running toward them, I was frantic. I asked them if any of them had seen Liana. Ginny spoke first. "We only just got here," she said. "I thought she was with you."

"She was," I said. "She—"

"Where the hell is she, Malfoy?" demanded Seamus.

I frowned. "Pansy took her. I don't know where she is, but she's in trouble."

"Well where would Pansy take her?" he asked, panic setting in.

"She could've taken her anywhere,' I said, sighing. "I don't know what to do."

**LIANA POV**

I woke to the sound of voices. I was too out of it to comprehend what was being said. My head was pounding and I could barely move. Had I been given some strange potion to make me feel like this? I couldn't remember. The last thing I remember is hearing Pansy's voice and seeing Draco's face.

I'd been kidnapped by Pansy, once again. If she wanted to kill me so badly, why hadn't she done it already? I knew that she wanted to kill me in order to punish Draco. Why else would she go out of her way with all of this? There were no other reasonable answers.

"My Lord," said a voice that I recognized as Professor Snape's.

"You've been a good and faithful servant." The other voice I didn't recognize, but it sent chills up my spine. It sounded raspy and threatening. I looked around me, but I didn't know where I was. From outside, I heard water. Was I on a boat?

Then I heard several thuds. I knew that someone had just been killed. I just knew it! There was a fifty percent chance that it was Snape and a fifty percent chance that it had been the man whose voice I didn't recognize. Then I heard footsteps and the sound of someone Disapparating. I sat up and was relieved that I wasn't tied up, though I wasn't very pleased when I realized that my wand was missing. Even though I didn't know who was out there waiting for me, I opened the door of the room that I was in and walked out slowly, careful not to make much noise.

I heard a sort of choking sound and found Professor Snape leaning against the wall. Rushing over to him, I knelt down beside him. "She'll come back . . . for you," he said. "You have to . . . get out . . . of here." I knew that he was talking about Pansy and that he was most likely right.

Tears started falling. I didn't want him to die . . . I didn't want anyone to die. "Did You-Know-Who do this to you?" Slowly, he nodded. From my peripheral vision, I saw a few figures entering the boathouse. I turned to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione running toward me with surprised looks on their faces. "We have to get him to St. Mungo's quickly! He's losing blood."

Harry kneeled next to me, in front of Snape. He whispered something to Harry, but I didn't catch it. Hermione handed him a flask and he placed it underneath Snape's eyes, letting tears fall into it. I hadn't noticed that he had been crying.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "We have to do something. . . . We have to help him."

Snape shook his head and choked again. I knew that he was losing a lot of blood, and fast. He winced as he placed a hand on my shoulder and struggled to speak. "Tell Draco that . . . I'm sorry," he said. Then he looked at all four of us. "Keep each other . . . safe." Then his breathing ceased and his eyes dulled. Snape was dead. Despised by many, and probably loved by none, Severus Snape was dead—killed by the Dark Lord. I cried, hard, because none of us should have to live our lives in constant fear, wondering whether or not we'll make it through the next day, and the day after that.

In my mind, I wondered who else had died back at the castle. I didn't even know if Bella was all right, or Draco. Though I hadn't been away from him long, I yearned to be by his side so that I could lace my hands in his. More than anything, I just wanted everyone to stop dying. I wanted it all to come to an end. It had to stop. He had to be stopped. _Everything_ had to stop. Once Voldemort was put to an end, nothing else would matter. His followers would go into hiding, afraid. Only then would it be safe again.

"No," I whispered. "No . . . . This can't be happening. There has to be something that we can do."

Hermione placed a hand on my shoulder. "Liana," she said softly. "It's too late."

I heard footsteps coming from behind us, but I was too distraught to even bother to look. The others gasped, so I turned around to find, once again, Pansy Parkinson. She smiled her twisted, malevolent smile and said, "You're right, Granger. It _is_ too late."


	25. No Way Out

**DRACO POV**

"Where the hell are they?" Seamus complained. "They should've been back by now."

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I snapped in annoyance. I knew that Seamus wasn't fond of me, but he was starting to irritate me. We were both worried sick and his complaining wasn't really helping the current situation. Ron, Hermione, and Harry went searching the grounds for Liana but that was at least a half hour ago, maybe more. It shouldn't have taken them this long, unless they'd encountered an obstacle along the way. I groaned unable to stand it anymore. I _had_ to know what was going on.

As I started to walk toward the courtyard, havoc was wreaking, Seamus stopped me. "You'll get killed out there!" he told me.

"I don't care," I said, determined to find my girlfriend. Then I turned to him. "Are you coming, or what?" With a sigh, he nodded. We dashed through the courtyard, where a massacre was taking place. Flickers of colorful lights poured out of wands. Dementors were flooding the premises and they were headed toward us. Both of us whipped our wands out, ready to put up a fight.

"Expecto patronum!" we both shouted. Our patronuses weren't perfect, but they were enough to get the Dementors off of our backs. A giant began making their way toward us, but it wasn't faster than we were. Seamus and I dashed past the chaos, dodging spells as we went. Not watching where I was going, I bumped into Ginny who was running away from a Death Eater that I recognized as my uncle.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, disarming him and sending him flying backwards. He landed on one of the columns and then smacked down face first with the ground. I didn't bother to check to see if he was still alive. Honestly, I didn't care. If anyone deserved to die, it was him! He and my aunt had tracked us down to Salem, and I hadn't forgiven either of them for it. I could never forgive them for trying to hurt my girlfriend.

We fought our way through the courtyard and headed toward the lake, away from all of the chaos. I looked around, looking for any signs of our friends. "Where do ya think they went?" Seamus asked. "The forest?"

I thought about it for a moment. If Pansy was going to kill Liana, she'd probably do it someplace secluded. It sounded about right. "I guess we're about to find out," I said and walked on into the night with Seamus not too far behind.

**LIANA POV**

As soon as I saw Pansy, I began to run out of the boathouse. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed. "We can hide in the Forest," I whispered as we ran. All I could hear was the sound of leaves crunching and branches breaking from behind me. I lead the way and dashed into the Forbidden Forest. Honestly, I wasn't absolutely positive that Pansy was following us anymore, but I wasn't about to take the risk to find out.

I stopped short, tired from running the long distance. Ron and Hermione also stopped. "Where's Harry?" asked Hermione, frowning. Looking around, I noticed that Harry was nowhere in sight. Had Pansy taken him? Or had he gone away on his own, just as we weren't looking.

"He was right behind me a minute ago," said Ron quietly, "I swear."

"We've got to keep moving," I said, shaking my head. Silently, I said a prayer for Harry to remain unharmed. "We should split up. She just wants me. And I don't want the two of you to get hurt."

Though they both hesitated, they knew it was true. If they were with her, their lives would be at risk. Hermione nodded and pulled Ron away into the shadows. Then I was alone in the silent forest.

Slowly, I walked. Soundlessly, so that I wouldn't draw any attention to myself. As I walked, I realized that I had no wand to use. I sucked my teeth and cursed under my breath. Now, I was powerless and alone. If Pansy found me, I was done for. I could kiss my precious life good bye.

I walked between the trees and the dark shadows. From a distance, I heard shuffling in the night. I turned in every direction, trying to figure out where the now louder noises were coming from. They were footsteps. Someone was getting closer.

I hurried away and heard familiar voices. "We've looked everywhere. She's not here!" I heard Seamus say.

"Maybe she's in the school somewhere. Let's go back," said Draco. My eyes widened at the sound of his voice.

"Draco!" I called, running toward his voice.

"Liana?" both boys called out.

I ran and I ran until I collided with Draco's chest. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me and breathed into my hair. "I thought I was going to lose you," he murmured into my hair. I looked up to find his sad grey eyes.

I shook my head. "You didn't," I said. "And you won't."

We were interrupted by Seamus, who looked too heartbroken to try and hide. "Now what do we do?"

"Pansy might be in the forest somewhere. Ron and Hermione were with me, but I have no idea where they went. And Harry's disappeared. Have you seen him?" I explained. Both boys shook their head.

"Are you okay?" asked Seamus.

"I'm fine," I said. "My head hurts a bit, but it's bearable."

"We need to get you out of here," said Draco.

"Snape is dead," I said. "He said for me to tell you that he's sorry."

Draco froze, unable to comprehend. I knew that Draco had grown fond of the man. His death was a surprise to us all. _Another headmaster dead_, I thought. I took his hand in mine, to comfort him. "Come on," he said softly. "We're going to take you someplace safe until this is all over."

"How do ya know it's going to be over?" questioned Seamus. "What if He wins? What then? He'll kill us all without a care."

"He won't. I know He wont," I said, despite my lack of confidence. The three of us walked out of the Forbidden Forest. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the dungeons," said Seamus before Draco could answer me.

"Is it safe down there?" I asked.

"Nowhere is completely safe," replied Draco, "but it's safer down there than out here. And besides . . . you have no wand to defend yourself and neither of us have an extra wand to spare."

I sighed and followed behind my current boyfriend and my former boyfriend.

We managed to find a safe way inside the castle. I assumed that the battle was dying down since I didn't hear much noise or screaming. Seamus and Draco took me to the dungeon—the potions classroom. "I'll wait outside," Seamus announced and left me alone in the room with my boyfriend.

"Where are you going to go now?" I asked him.

"Seamus and I will look for the others and see how much damage has been done," he answered. "In the meantime, you _have_ to stay here. Do you understand me?"

Sighing, I shook my head yes. "I understand."

He frowned at me for a moment. "I'm serious. You can't leave this dungeon. If you try to leave, I won't be able to protect you. I'll come back for you. I promise. You just have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

"I do," I said.

He hugged me and then raised my chin to kiss me. "I'll be back. Just stay hidden in here and you'll be fine. Everything is going to be okay."

Seamus came into the room. "You'll be safe here, Liana. Just promise that you won't leave."

I walked over to him slowly and gave him a hug, taking him by surprise. His body relaxed against mine. "I'm so sorry, Seamus," I whispered into his ear before I pulled away from him. Seamus said nothing, but gave me a solemn smile. When I looked at Draco, he didn't look very pleased. Perhaps he suspected that Seamus and I had something more going on, but I didn't have the time to worry about it.

Draco and Seamus left the room, locking it behind them. Of course they wouldn't leave it open. Both of them knew me well. Neither completely trusted me. I didn't blame them. I had to find a way out of here. They couldn't possibly expect me to remain idle while everyone else was doing everything in their power to help. The longer I stayed down here, the more I would worry and wonder who was still alive. Was Bella alive? Harry? Ron and Hermione?

I sat on the floor. I was so frustrated. There were no windows to look out of and I couldn't hear a sound. There was nothing but an eerie silence that was never-ending. I wasn't even sure how long I'd been down here. It felt like an eternity.

I'd had enough. I rose and decided that somehow, someway, I'd find a way out of here. I took several minutes to search the classroom for some sort of secret passageway. I knew that Hogwarts had quite a few, but I'd never discovered any.

After a while, I gave up and sat against the bookshelf. I smiled, remembering when Draco, Harry, and I had to serve detention with Snape. I was sad because Snape was gone forever and I was also sad because that was the same night I told Draco that I loved him. Since he and Seamus left me here, I wasn't too sure I'd ever get to say those three words to him again.

As a tear escaped from my eyes, I fell backward. I got up on my feet and realized that the bookcase was a secret passage. I didn't know where it would take me. For all I knew, it could lead me to a dead end. But I didn't care. I crawled through the small opening the bookcase had provided me with and crawled through the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a ladder. It was dark, so I was careful as I slowly made my way up the ladder. I had no idea where I was going. I just knew that I was going somewhere.


	26. Lost in Despair

**DRACO POV**

Part of me wanted to go back into that classroom to make sure that Liana was staying put. But there was nowhere for her to go. She was without a wand and there were no windows for her to try to crawl out of. I felt much better knowing that but Liana was . . . well, Liana. And she was just as stubborn as I was. If she had locked me in a room, wandless and helpless, I'd probably be doing my best to find a way out. But I couldn't worry about it now. There was nowhere for her to go. She was safe, thanks to Seamus and I.

Seamus wasn't half bad. Even though I didn't really like the fact that he was still very much in love with Liana, I didn't think that he was a bad person. As we walked through the castle to defend Hogwarts, Seamus stopped walking.

"I'm sorry," he said.

I furrowed my brow, puzzled. "What for?"

"For loving her," he said.

I sighed. "You can't help who you love," I said quietly.

Seamus shrugged his shoulders. "I know. It's just . . . hard for me. She was my first love . . . and I ruined everything with one mistake," he explained. "Just do me a favor."

I raised my eyebrows. "What's that?"

"Take care of her," he said, smiling a sad sort of smile. "I can tell that you make her happy. Just don't make the same mistake that I did. She's been hurt enough already . . . by me."

"I will," I answered.

"When this is all over, I want to make things right with her. I need . . . closure. I just want to be her friend, at least."

I nodded, returning his smile. "I think that it will be good . . . for both of you."

He pat me on the shoulder. "Ya know . . . you're not half bad, Malfoy."

I smiled to myself, glad that I had been accepted despite all of the terrible things I'd done. I'd been mean before—evil, even. _No_, I thought. _Not evil. Voldemort is evil._ But I'd been forgiven. And for that I was proud of myself and how far I'd come.

Seamus and I continued onward, toward the battle that raged ahead.

* * *

**LIANA POV**

I climbed and I climbed. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I was able to see better. The climb was far. It seemed like I'd been climbing for an eternity. After a while, I started to see some light.

I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled myself up. Now, I was in a hallway. But nothing looked very familiar as I walked down the narrow passage. Booming sounds echoed through the corridor, probably coming from outside or from within the castle itself. The walls were not very thick, I guessed, as I began to hear slightly muffled voices.

"You can't go!"

"I have to. It's the only way."

"You don't have to do this, mate."

"I do. Don't try to stop me. _Please_."

Then it was silent.

I knew those voices anywhere. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were near, but I didn't know where. I had no idea where I was in the castle. I wasn't even sure how to get out—_if_ there was a way out.

I kept going; there was only one way to go. After walking a little further, I came to a tiny door. I pushed it open and crawled through the opening.

I knew where I was after looking around. The Room of Requirement was right around the corner. After hearing footsteps, I decided to follow the echo. I hurried down the hall and ran toward Ron and Hermione.

"Where have you been?" asked Hermione.

"Where's Harry?" I asked, ignoring the question.

Hermione and Ron both exchanged solemn glances before telling me that Harry had gone off to give himself up to Voldemort. Before I had a chance to protest, Hermione told me that Harry had already made up his mind and that he was doing it for them, for all of them.

"So that's it, then?" I asked. "He's just going to give up? He's going to let himself be murdered? Voldemort will still be walking around free to do as he pleases. He'll kill and kill until there's no one left. Then we'll all have fought in this war for nothing. I don't know about you, but I'm _not_ going to sit around and wait for that to happen!"

Then I took off and ran, with Hermione and Ron calling out for me.

* * *

**DRACO POV**

Seamus and I were trying to save as many lives as we could. People were being killed, left and right. Many Death Eaters had been killed already, but there were plenty that had more experience than we did. And they didn't care that they were killing. That was probably our main weakness: hesitation to kill. I'd gotten over that, but Seamus hadn't. I'd saved his ass quite a few times since we walked into battle.

"Pull yourself together!" I shouted, after we'd ducked behind a chunk of debris that had come crashing down. "You're going to need to hurt, maybe even kill people. If you want to stay alive, you're going to have to do it without having to think twice about it!"

As I yelled at him, I saw a flash of green light headed our way. But it was too late. It hit Seamus right in the back and his eyes dulled right before me. His lifeless body collapsed, in a similar way that Jennifer's had, onto the cold, hard ground. My eyes widened and I looked up to find Pansy, with a huge grin on her face.

My blood boiled and my wand was pointed at her in less than a second. She laughed. "What are you going to do with that, Draco? Kill me? You don't have the heart to do it. Look at you," she taunted. "Pathetic. When will you learn?"

"You've pissed me off for the _last_ time," I said angrily. I acted quickly, before she could open her mouth with a smart-ass remark. "Petrificus Totalus!" Her body binded together, leaving her helpless and unable to move or do much of anything. I was done with her. I'd been done for a long time.

I looked down at Seamus' body a few feet away. Why him and not me? Didn't Pansy want me dead? The last few things I'd said to him was an angry lecture. I felt terrible. He didn't deserve to die. Despite our rough patch, Seamus was a good person.

All of the people out there dying in the war were good people. The Weasleys, Luna Lovegood . . . It made me sad and angry to realize that. After it was all over—if we ended it—we would have to bury all of these people. I didn't want to have to do that.

I grabbed Pansy's legs and dragged her into the castle after I took her wand and put it in my pocket. The spell would wear off soon, but I was going to lock her up somewhere.

"Draco!"

I looked up to find Liana running toward me. My lips parted in shock and in horror, too. "What the hell are you doing? How did you get out?" I demanded. "I _thought_ I told you to stay there. Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just . . . I couldn't stay there and not know what was happening out here. Fred's just been killed. Remus and Tonks too. And Harry's gone off to give himself up to Voldemort."

"What?" I exclaimed. She nodded. It was true.

"No," I said. "He can't do that. Someone has to stop him."

"Where's Seamus?" she asked. "Is he all right?"

I didn't say anything. I had no idea where to begin. Looking into her eyes, I told her what she needed to know. Liana bit her lip, trying to hold back tears. "I'm so sorry," I said. "Pansy snuck up on us. There was nothing I could do."

She sniffed. "Are you going to kill her?"

"For now, I'm going to lock her up. I'll figure out what to do with her later," I said. I took Pansy's wand out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Take it. I don't need you walking around without a weapon."

Liana took the wand from me and held it. "What now?"

"First, let's lock her in a closet or something," I said.

"I'm going to go outside," she said. "I'll catch up."

Her mind was made up before I could say that I didn't want her out there. Before my lips parted to speak, she had already disappeared around the corner.

* * *

**LIANA POV**

"No," I whispered. "No."

I found Seamus' body behind some debris. His eyes were closed and when I touched his hand, it still felt warm. His body would be cold soon and I didn't want to be there when it happened.

I began to cry, tear streaming down my face. I didn't care about the battle going on around me. All I cared about was Seamus. I never wanted him to die. I'd been so cruel to him, broken his heart several times. But none of it mattered now. He was gone forever. Just like Fred. Just like Remus, Just like Tonks. Just like everyone else whose lifeless bodies littered the courtyard . . .

I sobbed and sobbed next to my former boyfriend. Memories of him began flooding my mind as tears blurred my vision. I began to cry out, not caring who heard, not caring if someone found and killed me. Draco would be heartbroken, but at least it would hurt less than this. It would be quick, painless. I wondered if Seamus saw it coming, his death. Did his life flash before his eyes? What was his final thought? No. It hurt too much to think about.

My heart throbbed. The pain was unbearable. I'd lost so many people. Both my parents, some friends . . . Soon, there wouldn't be anyone left. Soon, there would be _nothing_ left.

It was over. We were losing. Hope was futile. So many lives lost. My tears would _never_ stop falling. Soon, Harry's life would be among those lost. It had to stop. I no longer had the will to fight. I was weak, in pain. I just wanted it all to be over, whether we won or we lost. I didn't care anymore.


End file.
